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Two British soldiers killed in Afghanistan
London (AFP) Dec 15, 2009 Two British soldiers were killed Tuesday in a suspected suicide bomb blast in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said, taking the total number of deaths this year to 102. The soldiers, both from the 3rd Battalion, The Rifles, died while on patrol near Sangin in the northern part of Helmand province, where British troops are mainly based, the ministry said. "It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that these two soldiers died near Sangin," the ministry said in a statement. "They were on foot at the time of the explosion, in which sadly two Afghan National Army soldiers were also killed," it said. Their families have been informed. A total of 239 British troops have now been killed in Afghanistan since operations began in October 2001, and 102 deaths in 2009, making it the deadliest year for the country's armed forces since the 1982 Falkland's War. Prime Minister Gordon Brown vowed a renewed effort to defeat the Taliban insurgency, after meeting troops during a visit Sunday to Afghanistan, amid mounting public concern about Britain's role in the conflict. Britain announced Tuesday 900 million pounds (1.0 billion euros, 1.4 billion dollars) for new helicopters and equipment for the war. A separate 150-million-pound programme was announced this week to combat the threat of roadside bombs there. Brown has also ordered 500 extra troops into the conflict, taking the deployment to more than 10,000, alongside a surge of 30,000 American forces as part of a sweeping new US strategy to turn around the eight-year war. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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China warns of refugee 'haven' for criminal UighursBeijing (AFP) Dec 15, 2009 China warned Tuesday that UN refugee programmes "should not be a haven for criminals" and said 22 Uighurs who are seeking asylum in Cambodia were involved in crimes. A foreign ministry spokeswoman said China was investigating the Uighurs, who include three children and who arrived at the UN refugee agency office in Phnom Penh after fleeing ethnic conflict in northwest China in July. ... read more |
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