SAS Soldier Killed in Afghan Blast

An SAS soldier was killed yesterday by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, defence sources said last night. He became the 96th British armed forces personnel to have died in the country since the US-led military campaign there began in 2001.

An MoD spokesman said the soldier's next of kin had been informed and no one else was injured in the blast. The family of the soldier has asked that no further information about him be released, he added.

"British forces were conducting operations in the Musa Qala area when a soldier patrolling on foot was caught in an explosion and tragically lost his life," the spokesman said.

The fact that the soldier's regiment was not named is a sign that he was a member of the special forces. A number of SAS soldiers as well as troops from the Special Boat Service, SBS, are operating in southern Afghanistan and Iraq.

Musa Qala, in Helmand province, was recaptured from the Taliban by US and British-led Afghan troops last year.

In a separate incident yesterday, another Nato soldier, not British, was killed by what the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) described as "enemy hostile action". It said the British soldier was killed in an improvised explosive device blast while supporting an Afghan national police operation.

"These soldiers died honorably, helping to bring security to the people of Afghanistan," said Brigadier General Carlos Branco, Isaf's spokesman.

British special forces have been operating in small groups in Afghanistan ever since attempts were made to capture Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida fighters at the end of 2001. They have recently been helping to train Afghan forces.