- The Guardian, Saturday 26 July 2008
An army dog handler was killed with his animal after his unit came under enemy fire in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said yesterday.
The soldier was from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps and attached to the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment. He died on Thursday night after being attacked by insurgents while on a routine patrol from forward operating base Inkerman, in the Sangin area of Helmand province, the MoD said.
His explosives sniffer dog was also killed in the ambush, which wounded six other soldiers - five from 2 Para and one from 3 Para. One suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries and was being airlifted to the UK for further treatment. The other five were returning to duties.
"I would like to offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of our fallen soldier," said spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan, Royal Navy Captain Michael Finney.
His next of kin had been informed and the soldier was expected to be formally named today, the MoD said.
The death takes the number of British service personnel who have lost their lives in Afghanistan since the start of operations in November 2001 to 112.
On Tuesday weapons maintenance specialist Corporal Jason Barnes, 25, from Exeter, Devon, was killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand as he drove an ambulance back to base.
The growing Taliban-led insurgency is mainly concentrated in the south and east. However significant fighting is occurring in the west and central parts of Afghanistan. More than 2,600 people have died in insurgency-related violence there this year, according to Associated Press figures.
The Royal Army Veterinary Corps, based at Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, is believed to have been involved in every army campaign since its formation in 1796. For its first 150 years horses were the main focus. But more recently dogs have come to play a crucial role in British military operations around the globe.
