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Marines killed in Afghanistan are named

Two British Royal Marines killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan earlier this week were named by the Ministry of Defence on Friday.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 23:21 November 14, 2008
  • Gulf News

London: Two British Royal Marines killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan earlier this week were named by the Ministry of Defence on Friday.

It said Robert McKibben, 36, from County Mayo in Ireland and Neil Dunstan, 32, from Bournemouth, were on a routine patrol when their vehicle was struck by an explosive device.

A member of the Afghan army was also killed and a third Royal Marine was seriously injured in the attack in the Garmsir district of Helmand province on Wednesday.

The deaths brought to 124 the number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion to oust the Taliban.

Their deaths came as concern was raised about Britain's ability to send more troops to Afghanistan above the 8,000 already there.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday more foreign troops were needed to help fight the Taliban and to control the illegal drugs trade.

But Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain's armed forces were too overstretched to increase their commitment to Afghanistan.

Britain is the second-largest contributor of foreign forces in the country after the United States and also has 4,000 troops in Iraq.

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