LONDON, (Reuters) – Four British soldiers have been  killed in a single day while on patrol in southern Afghanistan,  the Ministry of Defence said yesterday.

It was the armed forces’ worst loss of life in one day since  June 2008.
The four died in three incidents on Thursday in Helmand, one  of the most violent areas in the country and a heartland of the  Taliban movement.

One of the deaths was already announced on Thursday.
The latest deaths bring the number of British soldiers to  have been killed in action in the country this year to 20.

The MoD said two soldiers, one from the 1st Battalion The  Royal Gurkha Rifles and the other from 173 Provost Company, 3rd  Regiment, died in a suicide attack in Gereshk.

The NATO-led force in Afghanistan said that 16 Afghan  civilians died in the same attack and 30 Afghan civilians were  wounded.