Britain Names Soldier Killed In Afghanistan

The British soldier killed in a Taliban bomb attack in southern Afghanistan on New Year's day was named on Friday as Sgt. Chris Reed of 6th Battalion, The Rifles.

The 25-year-old Reed, a Territorial Army soldier from Plymouth, was killed by an explosion while on patrol in Helmand, a province of southern Afghanistan that is a focus of the Taliban-led insurgency, the Ministry of Defence said.

The death brings to 138 the number of British troops killed in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion to topple the Taliban was launched in late 2001. Three British soldiers have been killed in the past eight days.

Britain has around 8,000 troops based in Afghanistan, the vast majority of them deployed in Helmand.