The unidentified trio of soldiers died after an escort operation in the Gereshk district of Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban militia has been waging a bloody insurgency.

A response helicopter was called out, but the soldiers were pronounced dead by military doctors.

The fourth, a Royal Marine who was also not named, died in a military hospital in the central English city of Birmingham after coming under enemy fire while on a patrol in Sangin, also in Helmand, Monday.

He was taken to a medical facility in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, and then on to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, where he died.

"It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence has to announce the deaths of three soldiers from 1st Battalion The Rifles," the ministry said.

A British military spokeswoman, Commander Paula Rowe, said the Royal Marine's death was "a tragedy and his loss will be felt deeply by his family, friends and all those who served alongside him."

The families of all four soldiers have been informed.

The deaths bring to 12 the total number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year and 149 since the US-led invasion of the country in late 2001.

According to a report last week, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband was told during a visit to Afghanistan that some roadside bombs used by the Taliban included electronic parts that originally came from Britain and were supplied by British Muslims.

The Daily Telegraph said the devices, which were used to activate bombs via remote control, were either sent to sympathisers in neighbouring countries or carried in by volunteers who flew to Pakistan and crossed the border into Afghanistan.

Last month, Defence Secretary John Hutton signalled he wanted to boost protection for British troops facing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by the Taliban militia.

Britain has about 8,300 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, most of whom are serving in Helmand in the south.

After the United States, Britain is the second biggest troop contributor to a multinational NATO-led force helping Kabul fight Taliban-led insurgents and establish its authority.

Around 17,000 extra US troops earmarked for Afghanistan, meanwhile, would be deployed as soon as possible and thousands more are requested ahead of August elections in Afghanistan, the deputy NATO force commander in Kabul said Monday.

The reinforcements, approved by US President Barack Obama last week, will head mainly to the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul although details were being finalised, Lieutenant General Jim Dutton told reporters.

They would bolster about 70,000 foreign troops already in Afghanistan.

earlier related report
Pakistan needs urgent US help: top senator
Influential US Senator John Kerry called Wednesday for an urgent boost in aid to Pakistan, warning "time is running out" to help the nuclear-armed US ally's civilian government survive.

Kerry endorsed a new US think tank report that called for an immediate increase of 4-5 billion dollars per year in new help for Pakistan, on top of a possible increase of 7.5 billion over five years in non-military US aid.

"Time is running out," the Massachusetts senator and 2004 Democratic White House hopeful said at a press conference to back the Atlantic Council's call for a new, comprehensive approach to US relations with Pakistan.

"There is still time for us to be able to help the new civilian government, turn around its economy, stabilize the political system, and address the insurgency" festering in eastern tribal lands on the Afghan border, he said.

Kerry, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he would introduce legislation "in the next few weeks" aimed at getting 7.5 billion dollars in non-military US aid to Pakistan over five years and call for the same levels over the five years after that.

Kerry said he and Senator Richard Lugar, the panel's top Republican, were still "tweaking" the legislation but would push for "swift passage" after introducing it.

He also said he had met this week with senior Pakistani and Afghan military and diplomatic officials during their visits to Washington and said the new monies were critical to victory on what he described as "the central, crucial front" in the US-led global campaign against terrorism.

The council report said that about three billion dollars of the 4-5 billion it called for would go to economic and social sectors of Pakistan's battered economy, with about another one billion to its beleaguered security forces.

The monies would come on top of IMF commitments and other aid offers, and should come from Washington and its European partners, it said.

Kerry and former senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, the council's new chairman, stressed that efforts to defeat Islamists in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan required help for the people of both strife-torn countries.

Hagel drew a parallel to the Vietnam War -- in which both he and Kerry fought -- and warned that "if you lose the people, you lose everything. We cannot lose the people of Afghanistan, the people of Pakistan."

Council expert Shuja Nawaz warned that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's government "has, in our estimate, somewhere between six-12 months" to enact successful security and economic policies or face the prospect of collapse.

Nawaz urged US President Barack Obama to craft a comprehensive strategy for helping Pakistan and unveil it not more than 90 days after he took office January 20.

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