Tributes for city-based soldiers killed in Afghanistan

TRIBUTES have been paid to two soldiers based in Edinburgh who were killed in Afghanistan.

Corporal Lee Brownson and Rifleman Luke Farmer died in a bomb blast while on patrol in the southern Sangin region in Helmand Province on Friday.

Both were from the 3rd Battalion The Rifles, based at the city's Redford Barracks.

Corporal Brownson, 30, from County Durham, leaves a pregnant wife and two daughters.

Company commander Major Tim Harris said of him: "He was truly phenomenal. He was loved by his men – they all wanted to be just like him, their hero.

"On one occasion, he was hit by a piece of shrapnel in his shoulder, but refused medical treatment, dealing with it in the morning once the enemy had gone."

Rifleman Farmer, 19 and from Yorkshire, was described as "mature beyond his years".

Platoon commander Lieutenant Palmer Winstanley said: "He stepped up to the mark as our lead man, responsible for finding improvised explosive devices."