Britain suffers 200th Afghanistan death

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer

LONDON – A British soldier wounded in an explosion in Afghanistan died Saturday, the defense ministry said, bringing the country's military death toll there to 200.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the grim milestone "deeply tragic news." It is sure to raise more questions about Britain's increasingly perilous mission in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defense said the soldier from 2nd Battalion the Royal Welsh died Saturday at a military hospital in England.

He had been wounded in a blast while on vehicle patrol Thursday in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. Three other British troops were killed by roadside bombs in a separate incident in Afghanistan the same day.

Britain has about 9,000 troops in Afghanistan, most based in Helmand, a center of Taliban insurgents.

The British military suffered 22 fatalities in July, its bloodiest month since the invasion of Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Nine British troops have been killed so far this month.

The rising toll — more than the 179 personnel who died in Iraq — has reignited a debate in Britain about its role in the war and the quality of its military equipment. The Afghan campaign has long been divisive, with polls showing Britons about evenly split between supporters and opponents of the mission.

Graham Knight, whose son Ben was killed when a Royal Air Force Nimrod plane exploded over Afghanistan in 2006, said it was "time for an end to military action" in Afghanistan.

"We are ill-equipped and ill-advised," he said. "We should be getting the non-militant Taliban around the table and begin talks so we can embark on a withdrawal."

The prime minister said the mission to defeat the Taliban was essential to British security because "three-quarters of terrorist plots against Britain come from the border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan."

"British troops are fighting bravely there to protect us," Brown said. "The best way to honor the memory of those who have died is to see that commitment through."

Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth said it was a "grim day" but that Britain must stay focused on its mission in Afghanistan.

"This is a difficult time but we must all take solace from the fact that, although sometimes slow, we have been making good progress in Afghanistan," Ainsworth said. "We must all stay focused on the mission, on why it matters and what is at stake."

Afghans are due to vote Thursday in presidential elections, seen by the international community as a key marker of the country's progress towards becoming a stable democracy.

Militants have staged a series of attacks in the run-up to the vote, including a suicide car bombing Saturday near NATO headquarters in Kabul that killed seven people and wounded nearly 100.