British soldier falls in Afghanistan

A roadside bomb has killed a British soldier in southern Afghanistan, bringing to 217 the overall British fatalities in the war-ravaged country.

The British Ministry of Defense said Monday that the soldier was killed while on a foot patrol in the district of Gereshk in Helmand province.

A spokesman for the British Task Force in the province confirmed the incident, saying the death was “a heartfelt blow to all of us serving in Task Force Helmand.”

The insurgency has intensified in the eastern and southern provinces, where the foreign troops have lost several grounds to the Taliban-linked militants over the past months.

There are currently more than 100,000 international soldiers in Afghanistan.