Soldier killed in Afghanistan blast

A British soldier has been killed in an explosion while on foot patrol in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said today.

The soldier, from 1 Rifles, died following the blast near the Sangin district of Helmand Province yesterday afternoon.

His family have been informed, the MoD said.

The death was not connected to Operation Moshtarak.

The soldier is the fifth British serviceman to die in the region in the space of a week.

Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, said: "It is with a heavy heart I must inform you of the death of a second British soldier in a separate incident yesterday, in the Sangin area of northern Helmand Province.

"He was from 1 Rifles, serving as part of the 3 Rifles Battle Group, and was on a foot patrol near Patrol Base Almas, which is to the south of Sangin District, when he was killed by an explosion.

"We have lost one of our comrades and he will be sorely missed but his boldness and his selfless commitment to this fight will not be forgotten."

The soldier's death brings the number of British military casualties in Afghanistan since the conflict began in 2001 to 272.

Yesterday the MoD named two teenagers killed in Helmand Province.

Rifleman Jonathon Allott, 19, from Bournemouth, and Rifleman Liam Maughan, 18, from Doncaster, were killed in separate incidents on Friday and Saturday.

Both men died near Sangin in Helmand province and were members of 3rd Battalion The Rifles.

The MoD also announced yesterday that a soldier from A Company 4 Rifles had been shot dead.

The soldier, who was attached to the same battalion as the teenage casualties, was shot when his patrol base came under attack from insurgents.

Last Tuesday Corporal Richard Green, 23, from Reading, was shot dead while at a checkpoint near Sangin.