Suicide Bomber Brings British Death Toll in Afghanistan to 100

Three British soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in southern Afghanistan yesterday, taking the number of UK military personnel killed in the country since 2001 to 100, the vast majority over the past two years. A fourth soldier was injured.

The soldiers, from 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, whose next of kin have been informed, were on a routine foot patrol near their base in the Upper Sangin Valley in Helmand province when they were struck by an explosion. Four were injured and evacuated to Camp Bastion for treatment, the Ministry of Defence said. One was pronounced dead on arrival and, despite medics' efforts, another two died from their wounds.

In a statement after the deaths, the chief of the defence staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, said: "One hundred brave and professional servicemen have now died in Afghanistan ... I only hope that the terrible hardship that they have been asked to bear can be eased by the certainty that our forces are engaged in a most noble endeavor. In parts of Afghanistan which were once lawless, there is now governance and rule of law. Across the country, more than seven million children are now in school and increasing numbers of people have access to healthcare."

Des Browne, the defence secretary, said: "I would like to express my deepest sympathy for the family, comrades and friends of the three soldiers killed." He added: "Every visitor to our forces in Afghanistan comes back with the same sense of awe and admiration for the courage, professionalism and dedication of the remarkable young men and women serving out there."

The Conservative party leader, David Cameron, said: "My heart goes out to their families at this time. We owe so much to young servicemen and women who risk their lives to fight on our behalf." The shadow defence secretary, Liam Fox, added: "Every lost serviceman is a tragedy to their friends and families and our hearts go out to them all. We should be grateful as a country for the courage and fortitude of those willing to defend the security and values of an often ungrateful nation."

The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, said: "While the pain of the families and friends of the 100 brave servicemen and women who have lost their lives must be unbearable, I have no doubt that the cause for which they died is a just one. The consequences of failure would be unimaginable - a boost to terrorists who seek to harm our way of life, an increase in hard drugs on our streets and terrible instability in an already unstable region.

By the time the British military death toll in Iraq reached 100 - in January 2006 - there had only been five UK fatalities in Afghanistan.