L’AQUILA, Italy, (Reuters) – Britain said yesterday  it had lost eight soldiers in Afghanistan in the space of 24  hours, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown said troops faced a “very  hard summer”, suggesting it should brace itself for more losses.

The deaths, announced by the Ministry of Defence, included  five who were killed in two blasts while on foot patrol, the   highest death toll in a single attack.

Britain has now lost 184 soldiers in Afghanistan since it  joined the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, more than the 179  fatalities during its campaign in Iraq that began in 2003.

Fifteen soldiers, including four officers, have been killed  in the past 10 days alone.

Brown said there was no question of pulling soldiers out of  Afghanistan until the international community had finished its  mission there and quelled the threat from the Taliban.

“This is a very hard summer — it’s not over,” Brown told  reporters at the G8 summit in Italy. “But it’s vital that the  international community sees through its commitments.”