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Another British soldier killed

Published: Sunday, 14 September 2008, 9:30AM

The third British soldier in one week has been killed in action in southern Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defence said the soldier was on a routine patrol near Kajaki, in Helmand province, when he was killed in an explosion. The cause of the explosion is being investigated at this time.

The MoD said he was killed on Saturday and was in the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute regiment.

Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel David Reynolds, said: ÃÆ'Ã'Â¢ÃÆ'Â¢ÃÂ¢Ã¢âÂ¬ÃÂ¡Â¬ÃÆ'Ã¢â¬Â¦"The life of a British paratrooper can never be replaced, but it can be immortalised. His participation in this tour of Helmand will be remembered in regimental history as a tribute to his courage and as an honour to his family."

This death comes just one day after British soldier, Private Jason Lee Rawstron, was killed in a firefight in southern Afghanistan on Friday.

The 23-year-old, also from the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, died after being shot in the head when his patrol encountered Taliban forces.

Private Rawstron from Clayton-Le-Moors, Lancashire, was remembered by colleagues as a "dedicated" soldier with a "heart of gold".

Decorated war hero, Warrant Officer Class 2 Gary O'Donnell was killed on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old father-of-four, from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Regiment Royal Logistic Corps (RLC), was killed in an explosion while on patrol near Musa Qala, also in Helmand Province.

He leaves behind his wife, Toni, their children, Aiden, eight, and Ben, nine weeks, as well as his children from a previous marriage, Dylan, 16, and Kayleigh, 14.

Lieutenant Colonel Dave Wilson MBE said: "Hugely talented and unbelievably brave, he was at the very top of his extremely dangerous and difficult trade.

"It was a trade at which he excelled. It was his passion and he took immense pride in making places safer for other people, the danger to his own life rarely seemed to affect him. If it did, he kept it to himself."

The latest deaths take the number of British service personnel killed in Afghanistan since operations began in October 2001 to 120.