British soldier dies in Afghanistan

KABUL - A British soldier serving with the NATO force in Afghanistan died in an explosion that wounded two other troops, the alliance's International Security Assistance Force said Saturday.
The soldier was killed after the vehicle he was travelling in hit a mine during a routine patrol near southern Helmand province's Naw Zad district on Friday, British Lieutenant Colonel Robin Matthews told AFP.
Two other British soldiers were wounded in the explosion, Matthews said without further detail.
Similar incidents have been blamed on the Taliban who often use roadside bombs in their ongoing insurgency against the Western-backed government and foreign troop presence in the country.
The soldiers were serving with the 40-country ISAF force which earlier confirmed the death but not the soldier's nationality.
Helmand, the main source of Afghanistan's opium output, is in the grip of a Taliban-insurgency launched after it was toppled from government in a US-led invasion in late 2001.
Most ISAF soldiers in Helmand are British, and were joined by US Marines last week in a push to remove the Taliban from around southern Garmser district.
The latest fatality takes to 48 the number of international soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year, most while fighting the Taliban.