British soldier killed in Afghanistan

LONDON (Reuters) - A British soldier was killed as he left a training camp in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

He was killed by rocket-propelled-grenade and small-arms fire from militants as a British patrol left a base in the town of Gareshk, in the southern Helmand province, the ministry said.

It was the second British soldier killed in as many days. On Saturday, another soldier was killed in a Taliban ambush in southern Afghanistan when his patrol came under fire.

The deaths raise to at least 63 the number of British troops to have been killed in Afghanistan since the Taliban government was toppled by U.S. forces in 2001.

Britain has about 7,000 troops serving as part of a 30,000-strong NATO force in Afghanistan. They are mostly based in the south of the country, in Helmand province, where the Taliban and its al Qaeda allies are most concentrated.