Explosion kills UK soldier in Afghanistan

The British Defense Ministry has announced that one of its soldiers has been killed in a bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan. The ministry isssued a statement on Tuesday saying that the soldier was killed while patrolling along with members of the Afghan army near Forward Operating Base Keenan in Helmand. "It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defense must confirm that a British soldier from 1st Battalion Welsh Guards has been killed," the statement said as quoted by AFP. "Despite the very best efforts of his colleagues around him, he was killed instantly as a result of an explosion, the cause of which is being investigated," it added. Tuesday's incident increased the death toll of British soldiers in the war-torn country to 153 since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.