NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan identified as Briton

The British Defense Ministry announced Saturday that a member of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) who was killed in Afghanistan that day was a Briton.

The ministry said the British soldier from the first Battalion The Grenadier Guards was fatally wounded outside Sangin in Helmand province during a Taliban attack and died later at a secure base.

"The soldier was part of a combined Grenadier Guards and Afghan National Army patrol that had been taking part in an operation to help widen and deepen irrigation ditches for locals," it said.

Four others of the NATO forces were injured during the attack, which involved an explosion, gunfire and rocket propelled grenades.

In accordance with NATO policy, ISAF does not release a casualty's nationality prior to the relevant national authority doing so.

The fatality brought Britain's death toll in Afghanistan to 59. Britain has 5,200 soldiers based in Afghanistan.

Source: Xinhua