A BRITISH soldier from the 2nd Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles has been killed by enemy fire in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said yesterday.
The soldier died on Tuesday in the Musa Qala area of southern Afghanistan when a patrol came under attack.
The Gurkha was taking part in a joint mission with the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan national securi
ty forces.
He received medical treatment at the scene but died from his wounds.
Commander Paula Rowe, spokeswoman for the UK's Task Force Helmand, part of the ISAF, said: "The death of this soldier has left us all deeply saddened.
"The thoughts of everyone in Task Force Helmand are with this soldier's family, friends and comrades at this very difficult time."
News that another British solider had been killed in Afghanistan came on the same day that Quentin Davies, the defence minister, faced fresh criticism over military equipment.
The soldier is the 122nd member of British forces killed in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001.
Conservative MP Adam Holloway, himself a former soldier, told the Commons defence select committee that senior officers were "tearing their hair out" at the lack of suitable equipment.
He said one commander had told him of his frustration this summer at being forced to operate with "Snatch" Land Rovers.
The senior officer had been forced to ring round Territorial Army units in a search for longer-range guns to take to the combat zone, he told the committee.
The full article contains 264 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
