Soldier Dies In Further Afghan Carnage

Days after Royal Irish Regiment soldiers were injured in an explosion in Afghanistan, a colleague has been killed in a further deadly bomb attack.

The soldier who died was a member of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), on attachment to the Parachute Regiment.

The injuries of two soldiers also caught in that explosion are not thought to be life threatening.

The soldier's death, on Tuesday night, takes the number of British military casualties in the country to 111.

Meanwhile, Royal Irish Ranger Martin Delaney, of Lusk, Co Dublin, who was struck by a roadside explosive device while travelling in an army Land Rover at the weekend has been counting his blessings.

The device was planted by Taliban insurgents and left the 23 year-old suffering shrapnel wounds.

He had to be treated along with two other soldiers injured in the attack.

The Dublin soldier's father Patrick Delaney, has revealed in a statement that Martin telephoned him on Sunday to let them know he was recovering well after Friday night's attack in the Sangin area of Helmand Province.

The mother of a Co Londonderry soldier also injured in the Taliban attack has said it was a miracle he was not killed.

Ranger David Pepper was one of the five Royal Irish Regiment soldiers who were wounded when they were ambushed in Helmand province last week.

He suffered shrapnel wounds and injured his back in last week's attack.

His mother, Jacqueline Pepper, said their lives had been saved by an "act of God".

"Luckily enough nobody was killed, David has told us since that the vehicle split in two," she said.

"He was driving the vehicle and he has told us it was the gearbox below him that took the blast."

(DW)