UK soldier shot dead as Taliban step up campaign

A BRITISH soldier has become the latest allied casualty in Afghanistan this week as insurgents step up bombings and other attacks ahead of a major Nato operation in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.

The soldier, from 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, attached to 4th Regiment Royal Artillery, was involved in a gun battle with insurgent forces in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand Province, an MoD

spokeswoman said.

His death takes the number of British troops killed since the start of the mission in 2001 to 293 and came on the same day that two American troops were killed in an IED blast.

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Their deaths push the number of Nato losses to 24 in just over a week.

Monday was the worst day this year for international forces in Afghanistan, when seven American troops, two Australians and a French Legionnaire were killed in five separate attacks in the south and east of the country.

Two civilian contractors training police, an American and a Nepalese, also died in a suicide attack in Kandahar while seven Afghan security guards were killed and others wounded in a wave of violence.

And Afghan special forces backed by US helicopter gunships battled with insurgents for 12 hours overnight Monday in a remote Taliban-controlled region of north-western Badghis province.

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Spokesman for Task Force Helmand Lieutenant Colonel James Carr-Smith said the British soldier was part of a combined foot patrol, consisting of Afghan National Police and British soldiers.

"He died seeking to improve the lives of ordinary Afghans He will be sorely missed and his actions will not be forgotten."

Yesterday's casualties were confirmed as UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox held talks with his US counterpart Robert Gates.

Mr Gates, on a trip to London to meet senior members of the coalition Government, said the issue of moving British troops out of Helmand did not come up. But he added: "The question of whether there need to be additional American forces to help was discussed."

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Mr Gates paid tribute to the sacrifices made by UK forces in Helmand.

"In the Sangin area, British soldiers are in the absolute middle of the thick of the fight," he said. "This is one of the toughest areas in all of Afghanistan.

"It's important in no small part because of the relevance to the future of Afghanistan of the Kajaki Dam in terms of providing electric power."

Sangin in northern Helmand, currently home to 40 Commando Royal Marines, has been the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting.

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The bulk of Britain's 10,000 servicemen and women in the troubled country are based in Helmand, a major centre of the Taliban insurgency where nearly all of the 293 UK deaths in the conflict have occurred.

But they are now outnumbered by US forces, and an American general Major General Richard Mills, of the US Marine Corps, took over command of Helmand last week.

Foreign Secretary William Hague visited Washington within days of taking office to assure the US of Britain's continuing commitment in Afghanistan, where more than 9,000 UK troops are based. US commanders have warned of more casualties as the alliance gears to secure Kandahar, the former Taliban headquarters.