'Popular, committed' British soldier killed in Afghanistan is named

A British soldier shot dead by a rogue Afghan National Army member was last night named as 23-year-old Sapper Richard Walker.

The father-of-one from Leeds was serving with the 28 Engineer Regiment on his first deployment to Afghanistan when he was killed on Monday. Six other British troops were injured in the attack as they carried out construction work at Patrol Base Hazrat in Helmand Province, as part of preparations to hand over the camp to Afghan security forces.

Sapper Walker's commanding officer said he was the "epitome of a true sapper, one who would roll up his sleeves and get on with the task in hand no matter what, but importantly he would do it with great humour". Philip Hammond, the Secretary of State for Defence, also paid tribute to the "popular, committed" soldier and family man, who joined the Royal Engineers in 2008.