Second soldier dies in fighting this week

A SECOND soldier has been killed in Afghanistan this week, the Ministry of Defence said yesterday.

The soldier from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment was killed during an operation to disrupt insurgent activity in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand province.

The death was announced after the MoD named a soldier killed in a grenade blast on Wednesday as Lance Corporal James Ashworth from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

The family of the 23-year-old from Kettering, Northamptonshire, said: “We are devastated by the loss of our son, brother, uncle and boyfriend.

“He meant the world to everyone and has left an irreplaceable hole in our hearts. We ask that we are given time to grieve and we sincerely thank everyone for their condolences.”