Six soldiers are believed to have been killed after an armoured vehicle was caught in an explosion in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said today.
If the soldiers, who only started their tour of the country a week ago, are confirmed dead it will be the single biggest loss of British troops in Afghanistan from enemy action since the war began in 2001.
It will also take the total number of deaths of British service personnel in the war-torn country to more than 400.
The group - which included five soldiers from the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment - was on a mounted patrol when their Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle was struck at 7pm last night.
The Ministry of Defence said two Warrior vehicles were conducting a routine unpartnered patrol on the border between Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
One of the vehicles, which has two drivers and four passengers, was hit either by an improvised explosive device laid by the Taliban or an anti-tank mine left by the Russians decades ago northwest of Durai Junction.
It is understood the vehicle caught fire after the blast and ammunition on board is believedRecovery teams working against terrible weather conditions have not yet been able to reach the vehicle, hence why the deaths have not yet been officially confirmed. But the families of the soldiers have been told to expect the worst.
There were no injuries to the soldiers in the second Warrior following the blast.
Speaking in Downing Street, Prime Minister David Cameron said: 'This is a desperately sad day for our country and desperately sad of course for the families concerned.
'It is a reminder of the huge price that we are paying for the work we are doing in Afghanistan and the sacrifice that our troops have made and continue to make.
'I do believe it's important work for our national security right here at home but of course this work will increasingly be carried out by Afghan soldiers and we all want to see that transition take place.
If they are confirmed to be dead, it would take the total number of British forces personnel or MoD civilians who have died while serving in the war-torn region to more than 400 since the start of operations in October 2001.
It would become the biggest single loss of life in one incident since an RAF Nimrod aircraft crashed after a fire broke out on the plane moments after mid-air refuelling in 2006.
A total of 14 service personnel died in the incident.
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