Soldier is killed in Afghanistan

From the archive, first published Monday 31st Oct 2005.

A SOLDIER from the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry has been killed and five others injured in a gun attack in northern Afghanistan.

The news comes just weeks after a group of Swindon soldiers flew out from Fairford to the area as part of a 150-strong team from the regiment.

The soldiers were split into two groups, with half of them based in Mazar-i-Sharif where the killing took place. The other soldiers are in the capital, Kabul.

Speaking to the Advertiser on the day they left for Afghanistan, Lieutenant Colonel Nick Welch, the commanding officer, said it would be a tense time as the country had just held its first elections.

The troops came under fire as they travelled between bases in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, said the Ministry of Defence.

It is possible the attackers were members of the Taliban.

Mazar-i-Sharif is the base for around 200 of the 1,000 British troops in the Nato-led peace force in Afghanistan.

Announcing its `deep regret', the MoD said next of kin were being informed.

More details would be released in due course, said the spokesman.

He said there would be an investigation into who had shot at the troops.

"We are treating it as a hostile incident rather than friendly fire," he confirmed.

The MoD said security forces had sealed off the area in which the troops were attacked and arrested one suspect.

A spokesman said the troops had been travelling from the Provincial Reconstruction Team base which houses international military and civilian personnel helping the Afghan government develop democratic institutions and disarming militias.

The British-led PRT has been operating in Mazar-i-Sharif since July 2003, with responsibility for five of the northern provinces.

Defence Secretary John Reid said: "My thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends of the soldier tragically killed today in Mazar-i-Sharif."

The injured soldiers are being treated by German medics in nearby Kunduz.

The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry is the main British regiment operating in the area and it is based in Gloucestershire with a unit in Salisbury.

A spate of violent attacks linked to militants has been widespread in Afghanistan since March, and has killed more than 1,000 people.

The attack is the second time in the past two weeks that British forces have come under fire in the country.

Two weeks ago, one of the RAF's six Harrier GR7A aircraft was destroyed and another damaged in an attack on an air base at Kandahar.

Britain has 1,000 troops in Afghanistan, including a Special Air Service squadron ­ about 70 men ­ which is working alongside US special forces in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and former members of the Taliban regime.

Gareth Bethell

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