Two Marines Die in Bomb Blast in S. Afghanistan

KABUL, July 12 -- A bomb blast killed two U.S. Marines in Afghanistan's dangerous south, where thousands of American troops have deployed in a massive operation to oust Taliban fighters from the country's opium poppy region, officials said Sunday.

About 4,000 Marines moved into Helmand province this month, the largest Marine operation in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S. invasion. They have met little head-on resistance but remain vulnerable to guerrilla tactics such as suicide and roadside bombs.

"These terrorist attacks are hard to prevent, can be carried out by a few individuals and do not require a military force capable of confronting the Marines," said Arturo Munoz, an expert on the tribal environment in Helmand province with the Rand Corp., a think tank in Washington.

"I would expect the Taliban to avoid pitched battles with the Marines in order to avoid a large number of casualties," he said. "This does not mean they will avoid violence."

The two Marines were killed Saturday in Helmand. Military officials did not release other details or give a specific location for the blast. The military initially reported that four Marines had died but later corrected the figure, saying the deaths were mistakenly counted twice.

The casualties come after eight British deaths in Helmand in a 24-hour period ending Friday, triggering debate in Britain about its role in Afghanistan. Britain has lost more troops in Afghanistan than in Iraq.

In an interview broadcast Sunday, President Obama called Britain's contribution critically important and said U.S. and British troops face a difficult summer with Afghan elections set for late next month.

"We've got to get through elections," Obama told Sky News. "The most important thing we can do is to combine our military efforts with effective diplomacy and development, so that Afghans feel a greater stake and have a greater capacity to secure their country."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan will help keep extremist groups from launching attacks inside Britain. And he told Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a telephone call Sunday that Britain would stand "shoulder-to-shoulder with the people of Afghanistan for the long haul," according to a statement from Karzai's office.