Soldier killed in Afghanistan blast is sixth to die in a week

The soldier, from 1 Rifles, died following the blast near the Sangin district of Helmand Province on Sunday afternoon, the Ministry of Defence said. His family has been told.

The death was not connected to Operation Moshtarak.

Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, said: "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.

His death followed the naming of two other servicemen killed in Helmand. Rifleman Jonathon Allott, 19, from Bournemouth, and Rifleman Liam Maughan, 18, from Doncaster, were killed in separate incidents on Friday and Saturday. Both men were members of 3rd Battalion The Rifles.

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

A day earlier, Rifleman Carlo Apolis, of 4th Battalion The Rifles, serving as part of the 3 Rifles Battle Group, was killed in a firefight in Sangin.

Military commanders insisted yesterday there was no evidence a spike in British deaths was due to Taliban fighters being displaced by the military offensive in the region. UK military spokesman Major General Gordon Messenger said: "Spikes in incidents have been experienced previously and there is no evidence that this is due to fighters moving from the area of Operation Moshtarak.

"We cannot discount, however, that the upsurge in activity is a deliberate ploy by the Taliban leadership to deflect attention from the successes in central Helmand."