Kabul, Nov 14: At least nine persons, including one US soldier and nine Afghan civilians, were killed Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, when a suicide car bomber struck a US military convoy.

Around 74 civilians were wounded in the attack, the Daily Times quoted a US military spokesman as saying.

In a separate incident, two British troops were killed on Wednesday in an explosion in Helmand province’s Garmser district, said in a statement released by Britain’s Defence Ministry.

London, Nov 14 : The British military death toll in Afghanistan and Iraq has hit 300 when two Royal Marines were killed in an explosion in Helmand province. The deaths bring the total killed in Afghanistan to 124, while 176 have died on active service in Iraq since operations began.

The marines, from UK Landing Force Command Support Group, were taking part in a joint patrol with soldiers from Afghan security forces when an explosive device in the Garmsir district of Southern Helmand struck their vehicle on Thursday.

The Ministry of Defence said that next of kin have been informed and asked for a 24-hour period of grace before more information is released.

London - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday in London that he does not see security worsening in Afghanistan, even as the British death toll in the conflict rose to 124.

"Violence is not getting worse. It is the same level as it was for the past year or two. The whole effort is to make it better and to bring violence down," he said.

Stockholm - The Swedish cabinet Thursday approved a plan to boost personnel and aid to Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said.

Sweden is to raise its some 400-strong force in northern Afghanistan to around 500 next year.

Along with forces from neighbouring Finland, the Swedish forces are based in Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

London , Nov 13 : At a time when pressure is mounting on the Gordon Brown government to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan, a new survey has found that two-third Britishers, mostly young, want withdrawal of troops from the war-torn country within a year.

The ICM poll of 1013 people, carried out for a BBC, found that 68 per cent of the people in the UL believe that UK troops should withdraw within 12 months. Among men the figure was 59 per cent while 75 per cent of women agreed with the statement.

London - More than two-thirds of Britons want their country's troops to withdraw from Afghanistan within a year, an ICM poll published by the BBC Thursday has found.

Of 1,013 people polled, 68 per cent said troops should come home within 12 months. The proportion of women advocating a withdrawal was 75 per cent, while 59 per cent of the men asked wanted the troops to return.