Kabul, July 10 (DPA) Two British troops and at least two militants were killed in fighting in Afghanistan, the British and US militaries said Friday.

The British soldiers died Thursday in Helmand province, taking to 178 the total number of British military fatalities in Afghanistan, the ministry of defence said in London.

The news came as relatives were preparing for the return of the bodies of five British soldiers killed in Afghanistan over the past week to RAF Lyneham, an air force base in the south-western county of Wiltshire.

Meanwhile, Afghan and coalition troops captured six suspected militants, including two commanders of the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, a militant group associated with the Taliban, in two raids Thursday night in Khost province, the US military said in a statement.