British troops are to be pulled out of the Sangin area of Afghanistan, where nearly a third of UK deaths in the war have occurred.

BRITAIN announced the end of a five-week offensive against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan yesterday, saying it had succeeded in driving militants out of population centres ahead of national elections next month.

A suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up next to a police patrol in southern Afghanistan today, killing 24 people, while a two-day battle sparked by an insurgent attack killed at least 40 militants, officials said.

An estimated 60 people, including Taliban militants, died when their boat sank while crossing a river in Afghanistan’s most dangerous province today, the Defence Ministry said.

Insurgents ambushed a US-led coalition and Afghan patrol in the volatile south, sparking a battle and airstrikes that killed 25 suspected Taliban.