Gurkha Soldier Killed in Search for Taliban Near Musa Qala

The first Gurkha soldier to be killed in Afghanistan was shot while on patrol with Afghan security forces searching for Taliban fighters, defence officials said last night. He received medical treatment at the scene but died from the wounds, the Ministry of defense said.

The soldier's patrol came under attack on Tuesday near Musa Qala, a town recaptured from the Taliban by Nato and Afghan forces last year in an area which has seen a number of deadly attacks on British soldiers.

It took an official four hours in the Nepalese foothills to inform the soldier's next of kin of his death, defence sources said. The soldier, from the 2nd Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles, is the 122nd member of the British forces to have been killed in Afghanistan since the campaign against the Taliban was launched in October 2001. Gurkha troops have been regularly deployed there ever since.

His death was announced as fresh controversy arose over the use of lightly armored Snatch Land Rovers by British troops in Afghanistan.

Conservative MPs were drawing up a Commons motion critical of Quentin Davies, the defence procurement minister, who defected to labor from the Tories last year.

Earlier this week, Davies apologized to the father of Corporal Sarah Bryant, the first female soldier to be killed in Afghanistan, after her father accused the minister of insulting the memory of those who had been killed in the conflict.

Davies had dismissed an SAS reservist commander's accusation that the MoD was guilty of "gross negligence" for failing to provide better equipment. Major Sebastian Morley claimed that warnings about the Land Rovers' suitability had been ignored by the ministry.

Bryant died alongside SAS reservists Corporal Sean Reeve, Lance Corporal Richard Larkin and Trooper Paul Stout when their Snatch Land Rover was blown up in June.

Davies responded to the criticism by suggesting that casualties sometimes occurred when commanders chose the wrong kit for operations. But he told MPs on Monday: "If I have some reason to suppose that operational commanders had been offended by the remarks I'd made then, again, I would apologize to them pretty directly."

Adam Holloway, a former soldier and Tory member of the Commons defence committee, claimed this week that senior officers were "tearing their hair out" at the lack of suitable equipment.

The MoD also released figures yesterday showing that last year it paid out more than £85.7m in compensation claims, in addition to payments made through the armed forces compensation scheme.