LONDON: A British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb on Sunday in Afghanistan’s restive Helmand province, the Ministry of Defence in London said.

“It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce the death of a soldier from The Light Dragoons,” the MoD said in a statement.

The soldier was killed when the vehicle in which he was travelling struck an improvised explosive device in the Nahr-e Saraj district of the southern province of Helmand, the statement added.

No further details were given about the soldier’s identity.

The soldier's death brought to 427 the number of British troops killed since operations in Afghanistan began in October 2001. Of these, at least 387 have died as a result of hostile action.

Britain has around 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, making it the second-largest contributor to the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force after the United States.

They are based in central Helmand, battling Taliban insurgents and training local security forces. Britain intends to pull out all its combat troops by the end of 2014.