British soldier shot dead in Afghanistan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Dec 6, IRNA -- A British soldier has been killed while protecting the people of Nad-e Ali from insurgent intimidation in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in London announced.
The soldier, from the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, was shot by insurgents and subsequently died from his wounds. He was “defending his country from the threat of terrorism,” spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel David Eastman said.
The latest death is the 101st this year and brings the total of British fatalities in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban regime to 346, nearly double the 179 killed in Iraq.
Leaked US embassy cables published last week reveal that Britain’s military operations in Afghanistan have been harshly criticised by the country’s president Hamid Karzai, local officials and the American commander of Nato troops.
The secret cables, obtained by whistle-blowing web site WikiLeaks, report conversations in which Karzai said that Britain was “not up to the task” of securing the southern province of Helmand and suggested the job would be better given to the US.
US General Dan McNeill, who led Nato forces in Afghanistan in 2007/08, is said to have been also “dismayed” by the British effort which “made a mess of things” in Helmand.
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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30110848
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