Ambulance Driver Killed By Afghan Bomb

A British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan while driving a Vector ambulance shortly after helping to save the life of a colleague, his commanding officer said yesterday.

Corporal Jason Barnes, 25, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, was returning to base near Kajaki on Tuesday after helping evacuate a critically injured soldier by helicopter.

He was attached to 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment. Though his main job was as an armorer - maintaining and repairing weapons - he volunteered for extra duties as an ambulance driver. "He died helping others when he could have taken an easier path," his commander, Lieutenant Colonel Joe O'Sullivan, said.

Quartermaster Sergeant Martin Black said: "A measure of his skill and determination was when, in the middle of a firefight with the Taliban, he stripped down a .50 caliber machine gun that was failing to fire and got it working again for his colleagues."

Barnes, of Colchester, Essex, is the 111th member of the British armed forces to die in Afghanistan since 2001 and the 14th since the beginning of June. He died as official figures show that British casualties in southern Afghanistan have increased markedly over the past two years.

Between January 2006 and the end of June this year, 174 troops were seriously, or very seriously, injured, according to MoD figures. This compares with just 10 between 2001 and 2005. The number of British troops, now totaling about 8,000, has increased significantly over the past two years and the Taliban has shifted its tactics by laying improvised explosive devices - roadside bombs - as well as confronting troops directly with mortars, rockets, and guns.

Barnes' death is also the latest demonstration that even some of the army's newer armored vehicles are vulnerable to roadside bombs. The Vector was bought last year to provide "better protection" than lightly armored Land Rovers. The MoD has recently ordered tougher armored vehicles.

After Wednesday's award of the George Cross to Corporal Matthew Croucher, a Royal Marine reservist, 20 soldiers taking part in an award ceremony at Windsor yesterday gave first-hand accounts of the fighting in Afghanistan.

Among them was Major Daniel Cheesman, a marine honored for repeatedly confronting the Taliban while working to improve living conditions for the local population. He said: "If you've ever watched war films where it looks a bit hairy, well that's what it's like." He described going on 12-hour patrols in Helmand province carrying 100lbs (45kgs) of equipment, with mortars exploding around him.

Another marine, Mkhuseli Jones, of Aberdare, described being ambushed by Taliban fighters. He said: "We came under intense pressure but we managed to turn the situation round by firing back at the Taliban until they gave up." He was awarded the Military Cross.

Four members of the Royal Gurkha Rifles also received awards. Bhimbahadur Gurung, from Nepal, received an MC for exposing himself to intense enemy fire as he crossed open ground twice.