Afghan death toll hits 167 as Black Watch soldier killed

Published on Friday 12 June 2009 22:13

A MEMBER of the Black Watch has been killed in an explosion in Afghanistan as violence in the country reached a new high.

The soldier, from the 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, was caught in a blast near Kandahar on Thursday, bringing the death toll among British service personnel to 167.

Condolences were offered by politicians in Perth, which has strong links with the Black Watch.

Peter Wishart, MP for Perth and North Perthshire, said: "This is very sad news, a second Black Watch soldier killed in just over a month. This loss will be felt very deeply throughout Perthshire."

A shake-up of the military command structure in Afghanistan was agreed by Nato yesterday which tightens the United States grip, but the UK's Lieutenant-General Jim Dutton remains as deputy commander.

US commanders said the number of insurgent attacks over the last week – more than 400 – had been at the highest level since the fall of the Taleban in December 2001. In January 2004 less than 50 such attacks were recorded a week.

General David Petraeus, head of US Central Command, said: "Some of this will go up because we are going to go after their sanctuaries and safe havens as we must. But there is no question the situation has deteriorated over the course of the past two years in particular and there are difficult times ahead."