3 British soldiers killed, 1 wounded in Afghanistan

Three British soldiers were killed and a fourth was seriously wounded in an ambush on Tuesday in southern Afghanistan.

Insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns when they attacked two vehicles of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in the volatile Helmand province.

The wounded soldier was reported to be receiving treatment at a military hospital in Afghanistan.

The United Kingdom has about 4,000 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, with the majority of them inHelmand.

The attack came one day after NATO troops assumed command of all military operations in southern Afghanistan.

The attack brings to nine the number of British troops killed in action in Afghanistan this year. Nineteen Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2002.