Scott
09-16-2009, 04:28 PM
A BRITISH soldier died in hospital in the UK today after being wounded in Afghanistan at the weekend, the Ministry of Defence said.
The serviceman, from 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, was injured in an explosion while in a Viking armoured vehicle in the north-west of Helmand province on Saturday.
His family has been informed.
The soldier died today at the Royal College of Defence Medicine in Selly Oak, Birmingham.
Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said: "This brave British soldier has made the ultimate sacrifice and his passing is mourned by the whole of Task Force Helmand.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and comrades at this very sad time."
A total of 215 British troops have died in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001.
Vikings are highly manoeuvrable and are praised by soldiers for their agility in traversing Helmand's often rugged terrain.
But critics have raised concerns about their vulnerability to improvised explosive devices (IEDs) after the deaths of a number of British troops who were travelling in the vehicles.
Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, the most senior Army officer to be killed in action since the Falklands War, died alongside Trooper Joshua Hammond in a Viking in Helmand in July.
An inquest in Plymouth in January heard that the vehicles' underbellies were being fitted with extra armour to combat the IED threat.
[Source - The Sun]
The serviceman, from 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, was injured in an explosion while in a Viking armoured vehicle in the north-west of Helmand province on Saturday.
His family has been informed.
The soldier died today at the Royal College of Defence Medicine in Selly Oak, Birmingham.
Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said: "This brave British soldier has made the ultimate sacrifice and his passing is mourned by the whole of Task Force Helmand.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and comrades at this very sad time."
A total of 215 British troops have died in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001.
Vikings are highly manoeuvrable and are praised by soldiers for their agility in traversing Helmand's often rugged terrain.
But critics have raised concerns about their vulnerability to improvised explosive devices (IEDs) after the deaths of a number of British troops who were travelling in the vehicles.
Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, the most senior Army officer to be killed in action since the Falklands War, died alongside Trooper Joshua Hammond in a Viking in Helmand in July.
An inquest in Plymouth in January heard that the vehicles' underbellies were being fitted with extra armour to combat the IED threat.
[Source - The Sun]