Soldiers killed in Afghanistan

A soldier has died in a gunfight with the Taliban days after a war hero was killed trying to disarm a bomb.

The latest casualty, a serviceman from 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, was shot in the head while on a routine patrol in Helmand Province on Friday. He has not yet been named but his family have been informed.

His death comes after a decorated war hero killed on Wednesday was named as Warrant Officer Class 2 Gary O'Donnell.

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 119.

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