Roadside mine kills UK soldier
The Afghanistan death is the first for British forces this year
Monday, 21, Jan 2008 05:31
A British soldier has been killed while serving in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed.
The fatality occurred when the vehicle containing a company serving with 2nd Battalion The Royal Yorkshire Regiment was attacked by a "roadside minestrike" yesterday.
Five others were wounded in the attack. The company had been "disrupting enemy forces and reassuring local Afghans" when the incident took place around 3km north-east of Musa Qala, the hugely symbolic town captured from the Taliban last month.
A helicopter evacuated the casualties to Camp Bastion's medical facilities and Kandahar airfield, but one of the soldiers was pronounced dead at the scene.
In accordance with usual practice, the MoD has granted next-of-kin a 24-hour period of grace before identifying the dead soldier's identity. The soldier was a royal electrical and mechanical engineer.
The death is the 87th among British forces serving in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001 and the first of 2008.