Four British soldiers killed in Afghanistan

London, Dec 13 (Xinhua) Four British soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in two separate attacks Friday, the defence ministry said.

One soldier of the British Royal Marines was killed when his vehicle drove over a roadside bomb in Sangin district of northern Helmand province. An hour later, three others on routine patrol in the region were killed after a 13-year-old boy approached them with a wheelbarrow in which a bomb was hidden.

The boy was also killed in the blast and it was not clear whether the boy was a suicide bomber, the ministry said.

All the four dead were from the 45 Commando based in Arbroath and their families have been informed.

There are about 8,000 British troops deployed in the war-ravaged country and with these deaths, the total number of British troops killed in Afghanistan has increased to 132.