LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- The British military marked a grim milestone Friday as the number of troops killed in Afghanistan surpassed the death toll in Iraq . A British Marine is shown in Arbroath , Scotland , last year on the eve of a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan . An especially bloody 10 days in Afghanistan 's troubled Helmand province claimed 15 British lives , putting the total number of dead in that conflict at 184 , the Defense Ministry said . The British military has lost 179 soldiers in Iraq . Five soldiers were killed Friday in two explosions that rocked the same patrol near the town of Sangin in Helmand province , where British troops are based . The Defence Ministry earlier announced the deaths of three other soldiers in Helmand . British troops have joined with roughly 4,000 U.S. Marines and sailors , and several hundred Afghan security forces , in Operation Khanjar , a drive to secure Helmand before Afghanistan 's presidential elections in August . See a map of Helmand province » . Britain 's Chief of the Defense Staff , Jock Stirrup , issued a video statement in which he mourned the latest losses . Watch profiles of six British soldiers killled in Afghanistan on the same day » . `` It 's important we also remember why our people are fighting in Afghanistan and what they 're achieving through their sacrifice and their courage , '' Stirrup said . `` The mission in Afghanistan is about supporting the delivery of governance in order to reduce the opportunities for extremist terrorist groups who are a direct threat to the United Kingdom , its citizens , and their interests . '' Results are starting to emerge , he said , but the military still has a long way to go . `` It 's tough going because the Taliban have rightly identified Helmand as their vital ground , '' he said . `` If they lose there , they lose everywhere , and they 're throwing everything they have into it . But they are losing . '' Watch a gallery of Britain mourning its fallen in Afghanistan » . British Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke about the military casualties while at the G8 summit in Italy on Friday , calling it a `` very hard summer '' so far for British forces . `` Our resolution to complete the work that we have started in Afghanistan and Pakistan is undiminished , '' he said . `` We knew from the start that defeating the insurgency in Helmand would be a hard and dangerous job , but it is vital . ''
UK military deaths in Afghanistan now at 184 , five more than in Iraq . five Afghan lives lost in past 10 days in UK 's Helmand province . UK forces have joined with U.S. , British troops in offensive in Helmand . Drive in Helmand is part of effort to secure country before past 10 days elections .