SAS troopers killed in exercises

Two British special forces troopers have been killed in desert exercises in the Middle East, it emerged today.

The men were killed in incidents on 17 and 27 July, the Ministry of Defence said today.

One man died in a parachute accident but details of the death of the other, who had been in Oman, was not given.

Army boards of inquiry are to be held into each incident, the MoD said. No details were given about either man, but both are understood to be special forces troops.

Although the Army is continuously engaged in exercises all over the world, deaths are extremely rare.

Oman was the scene of last Autumn ' s £90million British military exercise, called Saif Sareea, which was designed to test the capability of the country's armed forces operating at long distance.

Those manoeuvres were, however, announced with full fanfare and were visited by both Prime Minister Tony Blair and Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.