Soldiers' bodies flown home

Updated 22.49 Mon Jun 16 2008
Keywords: james bateman, daniel gamble, jeff doherty, nathan cuthbertson, david murray, soldiers, afghanistan, britain

The bodies of five British soldiers killed in Afghanistan have been flown back to the UK.

The men, all from 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, based at Colchester, in Essex, were killed in the past week.

"The bodies of all five soldiers are being flown home together" - Ministry of Defence spokesman

Privates Nathan Cuthbertson and David Murray, both 19, and Daniel Gamble, 22, were killed by a suicide attack last Sunday.

Lance Corporal James Bateman, 29, and Private Jeff Doherty, 20, were killed when they came under Taliban fire on Thursday.

Their deaths take the number of British service personnel killed in Afghanistan since November 2001 to 102.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said dozens of servicemen and women attended a "ramp ceremony" in Afghanistan before the coffins were loaded on to the plane.

He said: "The padre said a few words and it was a chance for the soldiers to pay their respects to their fallen comrades."

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