A British occupation soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan, British Ministry of Defense (MoD) said, taking to 376 the number of UK soldiers to be killed in the war0torn country since the 2001 US-led invasion.

A British occupation soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan, British Ministry of Defense (MoD) said, taking to 376 the number of UK soldiers to be killed in the war0torn country since the 2001 US-led invasion.

MoD said the soldier was shot dead while “conducting a routine patrol with members of the Afghan national army yesterday”, adding the soldier “received a fatal gunshot wound during this incident”.

"A report that the fatal gunshot was fired by an Afghan National Army soldier is now the subject of a joint International Security Assistance Force and Afghan National Security Force investigation”, the ministry added in a statement on Sunday.

London currently has around 9,500 soldiers deployed in the NATO force in Afghanistan, the biggest contingent after the United States.
Earlier this month Britain announced it would withdraw a further 500 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year, but would keep soldiers there until at least 2023.

In June US President Barack Obama announced a big drawdown of US forces in the war-torn country.