Another British soldier has been killed during a clash with suspected Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan, the British Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirmed on Wednesday.

The soldier was killed during a patrol with 3 Para battle group in Helmand province's Sangin town, according to a ministry statement.

"We are currently in the process of informing the next of kin and cannot comment further until this process is complete." it added.

Including the latest casualty, a total of six British soldiers have died in Helmand province during the past four weeks in clashes with the Taliban. British forces have been recently deployed in the area as part of an expanding NATO peacekeeping mission. Last Saturday, two British soldiers were killed in the same area when their base came under small-arms and RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) attack.

On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons Liaison Committee that Britain was ready to send additional troops and equipment to Afghanistan in support of the mission.

But Blair said he had not yet received any requests for reinforcements, despite a flurry of news reports in recent days of calls for extra soldiers to be deployed soon.

According to a report published by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Sunday, titled Foreign Aspects of the War against Terrorism, there has been a worrying deterioration in the security situation in Afghanistan, with signs that the tactics that have brought such devastation to Iraq are being replicated.

The report said the government should set out what steps it is taking to prevent further deterioration, and that it should clarify the role of British personnel to avoid blurring the British counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics objectives in Afghanistan.

Currently, Britain has around 4,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, with 3,300 stationed in Helmand.

Source: Xinhua