Jul 10, 2009 10:40 pm US/Eastern
15 Brits Killed In 10 Days Of Afghan Fighting
LONDON (AP) ―
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US Marines of 1st Combat Engineering Battalion of 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on a road in Garmsir district of Afghanistan's Helmand Province on July 10, 2009.
Manpreet Romana/Getty Images
British officials say five soldiers have been killed on patrol in Afghanistan.
Friday's fresh casualties mean 15 British soldiers have been killed in the last 10 days as fighting in Helmand Province intensifies.
Three other combat deaths were announced earlier Friday, making it one of the worst days for British forces since the war began seven years ago.
Officials say families of the dead soldiers have been notified. Their names have not been released.
The deaths come as 4,000 U.S. Marines are pushing deeper in Taliban-controlled areas of the country.
Meanwhile, thousands of mourners bowed their heads in tribute Friday to the passing coffins of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan, where the climbing toll has created doubts in Britain about the human cost of the war.
News the recent deaths has many Britons rethinking the country's commitment to a conflict that seems no closer to a successful conclusion than when troops first arrived seven years ago.
A Ministry of Defense spokeswoman said a total of eight deaths were announced Friday, making it one of the darkest days of the war. She spoke on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.
"The casualties should fix peoples' minds on the fact that we've let the soldiers down," said Adam Holloway, an opposition Conservative Party lawmaker who sits on Parliament's defense committee. "The death toll means we should do it properly or we shouldn't do it at all."
Holloway, a frequent visitor to Afghanistan, said Britain has never had the troop strength needed to hold ground there and has failed to provide the promised security or reconstruction, leading many Afghans to believe the Taliban militants will outlast Western forces.
"We're in a mess," he said.
He cautioned that there is still no widespread public revolt against the government's war policy. He said his constituents do not seem extremely worried about the troubled Afghan campaign, despite the increasing casualties.
But some communities are grieving. Schoolchildren, businessmen and army veterans stood side by side in Wootton Bassett, a small market town about 85 miles (135 km) west of London, as the bodies of five soldiers killed between Saturday and Tuesday were driven through the crowds after being flown to a nearby air base.
Wootton Bassett's mayor, Steve Bucknell, said it was becoming increasingly hard to accept the rising number of British casualties.
"We keep on asking ourselves how many more? Each time we pray it's the last one, knowing it probably isn't going to be," Bucknell said.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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