Roadside Bomb Kills Soldier in Afghanistan

A British soldier was killed in south Afghanistan yesterday when his vehicle was hit by a suspected mine, the Ministry of defense said.

The soldier was from the Queens Royal Lancers; his next of kin has been informed, though he will not be named for 24 hours.

A second soldier was injured in the blast and was receiving treatment at Camp Bastion.

Five soldiers have been killed in south Afghanistan in the past three weeks, all by roadside bombs or mines as the Taliban are shifting their tactics from open confrontation and gunfights with British and other Nato troops. The number of British servicemen killed in Afghanistan since 2001 now totals 94.

In recent incidents the soldiers killed were traveling in lightly armored Land Rovers. The soldiers hit yesterday were in a Viking, the MoD said, a much heavier armored vehicle. The incident happened as the soldiers were protecting a supply convoy travelling between Gereshk and Camp Bastion.

Brigadier Andrew Mackay, commander of 52 Brigade which has just returned from a six-month tour in south Afghanistan, said the message for the Taliban was that "a far quicker way of getting rid of us [Nato troops] is to reconcile - stop fighting".

The Taliban's command and control in Helmand province had been "fractured" by their losing the town of Musa Qala, he said, and they were being continually disrupted.

Other British commanders described the Taliban as on the "back foot" - but, as a result, they are increasingly turning to using roadside explosive devices and suicide bombers.