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Death casts pall over Cameron visit
Tue Jul 5, 2011 1:51AM
PressTV - Death casts pall over Cameron visit
A British soldier's death in Afghanistan has marred Prime Minister David Cameron's surprise visit to the war-torn country.
Cameron had to scrap a scheduled trip to the Helmand provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, after a British soldier went missing early Monday in Helmand province before they found his dead body.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for killing the British soldier.
The British trooper went missing from a checkpoint in Helmand on Monday.
The British Defense Ministry announced later in the day that the soldier's body had been found with gunshot wounds after a huge international manhunt.
“His exact cause of death and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and death are currently under investigation,” AFP quoted Lieutenant Colonel Tim Purbrick, the spokesman for Task Force Helmand, as saying in a statement.
Lashkar Gah is one of the Afghan towns earmarked for an early handover to Afghan troops.
Cameron has pledged to withdraw 500 to 800 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012.
At least 374 British troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of the war in 2001.
Tue Jul 5, 2011 1:51AM
PressTV - Death casts pall over Cameron visit
A British soldier's death in Afghanistan has marred Prime Minister David Cameron's surprise visit to the war-torn country.
Cameron had to scrap a scheduled trip to the Helmand provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, after a British soldier went missing early Monday in Helmand province before they found his dead body.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for killing the British soldier.
The British trooper went missing from a checkpoint in Helmand on Monday.
The British Defense Ministry announced later in the day that the soldier's body had been found with gunshot wounds after a huge international manhunt.
“His exact cause of death and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and death are currently under investigation,” AFP quoted Lieutenant Colonel Tim Purbrick, the spokesman for Task Force Helmand, as saying in a statement.
Lashkar Gah is one of the Afghan towns earmarked for an early handover to Afghan troops.
Cameron has pledged to withdraw 500 to 800 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012.
At least 374 British troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of the war in 2001.