A Royal Anglian soldier has died from injuries sustained in an explosion in Afghanistan three weeks ago, the Ministry of Defence confirmed yesterday.The soldier, who is expected to be named later today, was from 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment, serving as part of the Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group.

A Royal Anglian soldier has died from injuries sustained in an explosion in Afghanistan three weeks ago, the Ministry of Defence confirmed yesterday.

The soldier, who is expected to be named later today, was from 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment, serving as part of the Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group. He died in the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak in Birmingham on Monday night.

He was injured in the blast in the Musa Qala district of Helmand Province on the morning of February 21. Next of kin have been informed.

The spokeswoman said the death was not connected to Operation Moshtarak, the recent drive against the Taliban.

Lt Col David Wakefield, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said: “It is with sadness I must inform you that one of our comrades succumbed to his wounds last night in Selly Oak Hospital.”

He said the blast happened while the soldier was on patrol to the north of Musa Qala District Centre, “part of the ongoing successful operations in the Musa Qala area to drive the insurgents away from the local people and away from the District Centre”.

He added: “He was one of us, one of our own, who fell doing his duty. We will remember him.”

The death takes the number of British military fatalities in Afghanistan to 273 since operations began there in 2001. A total of 24 UK service personnel have been killed in Musa Qala since forces were first deployed there in 2006.

British forces first took Musa Qala in the summer of 2006 before pulling out in October that year under an agreement that local tribal elders would maintain security.

But the Taliban returned in force to re-occupy the town in February 2007. In December that year, UK troops went back in and drove out the insurgents after fierce fighting.

The 500 soldiers from the Household Cavalry currently based in Musa Qala are expected to be redeployed to support the British presence around Babaji in central Helmand.