Marine killed in Afghan blast

A marine from 40 Commando Royal Marines has been killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, said the Ministry of Defence. The MoD said he was killed on Sunday night in an explosion while on foot patrol near Sangin in northern Helmand.

His family have been told. Lieutenant Colonel James Carr-Smith, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said: "He was conducting a foot patrol in order to further develop the understanding of the local area when he was struck by an explosion.

"His bravery and selfless commitment will not be forgotten. He will be greatly missed."

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The announcement came after Corporal Stephen Curley, 26, from 40 Commando Royal Marines, died in an explosion while on foot patrol in Helmand on Wednesday.

He died on the same day as Gunner Zak Cusack, 20, from 4th Regiment Royal Artillery who was killed in a firefight with the Taliban in Helmand Province.

The number of British troops who have died in operations in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2001 stands at 289.

NATO has launched airstrikes against Taliban insurgents who had forced government forces to abandon a district in eastern Afghanistan.

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The airstrikes came as NATO reported its 50th death this month – a service member killed on Sunday by a makeshift bomb in the south. NATO aircraft fired guided munitions on Taliban positions at Barg-e-Matal district in Nuristan, a province in the mountainous region on the Pakistani border.

Government forces last week abandoned the district's main town after a major assault by Taliban militants, many of them coming in from Pakistan, Afghan officials said.

Taliban strength grew in the Nuristan area after US troops abandoned an outpost where eight American soldiers were killed in a fierce attack in October.

May was already the deadliest month this year for US troops with 33 deaths – two more than in February when American, NATO and Afghan

forces seized the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in Helmand province. The month also brought the 1,000th US military death in the Afghan war since it began in 2001.

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