A British soldier has been killed in an attack on a foot patrol in southern Afghanistan, NATO and British officials said Monday, AP reported.
The soldier, who has not been named, was shot Sunday while patrolling in Babaji district of Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, Britain's defense ministry said.
The soldier's death brings to 214 the number of British military personnel killed in Afghanistan since operations there began in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
Violence has risen across Afghanistan in the last three years as the resurgent Taliban regained control of large swaths of countryside. Fighting has been particularly harsh this summer in the south, where thousands of U.S. troops have deployed to bolster the Canadian and British-led operations in the Taliban heartland.
The U.S. and NATO have a record number of troops in Afghanistan - nearly 100,000 in total - and the top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, is likely to soon request thousands more.
This year has been the deadliest for U.S. and NATO troops since the 2001 invasion.
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