By IRNA,
London : Two more British troops have been killed in Afghanistan bringing the total number of fatalities to eleven in the last two weeks, according to the Ministry of Defence in London.
The ministry said that one British soldier was killed in an explosion on Tuesday while checking for mines in the Upper Sangin Valley in Helmand province.
The latest death came after it announced another soldiers was killed on the same day during a firefight also in the Upper Sangin Valley where he was said to have been “in a deliberate operation against the Taliban.”
Earlier Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, admitted the Britain’s Armed Forces were “stretched beyond the capabilities we have” and could not go on fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Britain is increasing the number of troops deployed to Afghanistan to over 8,000, while moves to further drawdown the 4,000 troops in Iraq have been delayed.
Some commentators have started to describe Afghanistan as “Britain’s Vietnam” due to the growing death toll. Over 100 British troops have been killed in Afghanistan in the last two years out of a total of 108 since the 2001 war to overthrow the Taliban regime.