Soldier shot dead in Afghanistan

A British Army bomb disposal expert was killed in a gunfight with insurgents in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence confirmed yesterday. The soldier, from 101 Engineer Regiment, died in in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province on Sunday. He was serving as part of the counter-improvised explosive device task force. His family have been told.

Meanwhile, Bombardier Stephen Gilbert, pictured, from 4th Regiment Royal Artillery, who had been wounded in an explosion in Nahr-e Saraj on 10 June, died in hospital in Birmingham on Saturday.