Soldier killed in Afghanistan blast

The serviceman, from 3rd Battalion The Rifles, died near Sangin in Helmand Province on Thursday morning, said the Ministry of Defence.

The death came as tributes were paid to five UK troops killed when an Afghan policeman turned his gun on them inside a secure checkpoint on Tuesday.

Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford and Guardsman Jimmy Major, of the Grenadier Guards, died alongside Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, of the Royal Military Police.

Another six British soldiers and two Afghan policemen were wounded in the shooting at a police checkpoint in Nad-e-Ali in Helmand Province on Tuesday.

Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said it was a "particular tragedy" that the men were killed by one of the Afghans they were working alongside.

He said: "The memory of WO1 Darren Chant, Sgt Matthew Telford, Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith, Cpl Steven Boote and Guardsman James Major will live on. They were men of courage who died building security in Afghanistan and protecting people in the UK from terrorism. My deepest sympathies and condolences lie with their grieving families, friends, and all those who served alongside them who will feel the pain of loss most intensely. They are in all our thoughts."

Speaking at the family home, Guardsman Major's father Adrian described his grief over his son's death. "I'm just shell-shocked," he said. "It's his birthday next week and we'd just sent shoeboxes out with his birthday things, his birthday cake and everything. You always think it might happen but we only spoke to him on the Tuesday night."

When asked if the dozens of tributes left in the garden of the family home helped with dealing with his son's death, he said: "They do because it means people are thinking of him.

The British soldiers, commanded by WO1 Chant, had been living and working at the police checkpoint for about a fortnight as part of a team mentoring Afghan National Police officers. They had just returned from a patrol when, without warning, the policeman opened fire on them before anyone could respond and then fled. British forces are involved in a manhunt for the killer, who was named by tribal elders as a member of the Taliban called Gulbuddin. Sky News reported that the Taliban had claimed the gunman was back with them and "safe".