Two British soldiers were killed today and another injured when their dawn patrol through one of the most dangerous parts of southern Afghanistan came under attack from Taleban militia.

Details of this morning's incident were sketchy, although the BBC, which has a correspondent in the area, said that a British vehicle was destroyed by a rocket-propelled grenade.

In Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, Army spokesman Captain Drew Gibson said that the attack had come "out of the blue" in an area that had been quiet in previous weeks.

Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, offered his "deepest sympathy" to the families and loved ones of the dead soldiers. Speaking at an event in London to mark Veterans’ Day, Mr Browne said: "We are here, of course, today to honour Veterans’ Day and the events last night in Afghanistan serve as a powerful reminder of the highest price that many members of our armed services have paid across the years."

But he also fuelled speculation that the pair were members of the special forces members by saying: "I can confirm that these two were not part of what people would describe as the Helmand taskforce. The taskforce that has been deployed to the Helmand area is focused on reconstruction."

The MoD declined to comment on which regiment the two soldiers were serving with, or their role in the country.

The incident brought the death toll from the recent British deployment to Helmand province to three. Earlier this month, Captain Jim Philippson, of 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, died after a firefight with suspected Taleban forces in the same area, around Sangin.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We can confirm that British forces were involved in an incident in the Sangin valley. We regret to confirm that two members of the UK armed forces have been killed in action. Next of kin are currently being informed and no further details are being released at this point."

Britain will soon have about 3,300 troops in Helmand, as part of an expansion by Nato forces in the country as they take over from the US-led coalition that displaced the Taleban in late 2001.

Its forces are currently involved alongside US, Canadian and Afghan forces in Operation Mountain Thrust, a campaign to root out insurgents in the southern provinces of Helmand, Uruzgan, Kandahar and Zabul.

The dangers facing them, against an experienced and committed enemy, are becoming ever more apparent. More than 1,000 Afghan civilians and some 50 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year, leading the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, to question the West's strategy in the 'War on Terror'.

The Sangin valley runs through Helmand province and is known as the centre of Afghanistan's drugs trade, which is largely run by the Taleban..

Tim Albone, Times Correspondent in Afghanistan, said that the valley was considered the most dangerous area of Helmand - "a hotbed of Taleban activity". He said the mountainous valley in the north of the province provided ideal terrain for an ambush.

Albone added: "The British paratroopers I've spoken to have been quite impressed with the way these guys fight, with their knowledge of the lie of the land. These are not young kids doing the fighting - some of them would have fought both the Russians and the Americans after that."

Captain Gibson said that morale among UK troops remained high as they prepare the way for the long-term operation to restore order and flush out rebels.

"It’s going to take time in this place. We can’t wave a magic wand," he said. "We need to prove that we are here to do the right thing and support the Afghanistan people.

"As we move further north we move into areas where it’s not just Taleban, but it’s drugs leaders and smugglers who are going to retaliate. These are people who do not want the security, they want the chaos to prevail because it suits their own ends. We knew that it was high risk, what we were doing. I would not say it has been worse than we anticipated."

Mr Gibson said that most Afghans were not hostile to the foreign armed forces, but were "sitting on the fence" as to whether to support them. He said: "They have seen 30 years of conflict and they are warming to us. They accept our approach and that we have done a lot of good work.

He added: "The people in Lashkar Gah are being quite responsive, even in Sangin when the guys went up there, it’s not so much animosity, but scepticism towards them. People are being cautious. They are not just jumping wholeheartedly and saying they can just jump in right behind coalition forces and it’s going to be alright."

Michael Williams, of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, in London, said Helmand was the "final frontier" for many Taleban rebels, who had been forced to retreat there from other areas. He added that its location close to the Pakistan border also allowed insurgents to travel into the area to mount attacks. "Now we are pushing them from their final frontier and they are pushing back. This is their stronghold," he said.

He added that disruptive elements in Afghanistan were also testing the resolve of Western governments by mounting attacks and attempting to inflict casualties. They are looking at the upset in Britain to the war, just like in Iraq, and if they can destabilise public opinion then the government might pull out the troops."

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