British soldier killed in explosion in Afghanistan

LONDON (Reuters) - A British solider has been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said on Monday.

The MoD said the soldier -- the 186th British soldier to be killed since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 -- was on foot patrol in Sangin, Helmand province, when the explosion hit on Sunday.

"He laid down his life for his country and the good people of Afghanistan," said Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson, a spokesman for Task Force Helmand.

The soldier's family has been informed.

Public debate about the 8-year-old war has intensified in the past two weeks as Britain has suffered a series of fatalities on the battlefield and coffins have returned home.

This month, 17 troops have been killed, including eight in one day, with most of them hit by roadside bomb blasts.

That has provoked anger about a lack of helicopters, particularly heavy-lift Chinooks which allow troops and equipment to be shuttled around Afghanistan's vast territory rapidly. A lack of helicopters means more units have to travel by road, exposing them to mines, bombs and boobytraps.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland. Editing by Keith Weir)