• Serviceman killed by explosion in Helmand province
• Seven Taliban militants die in Khost attack

A British soldier from the 40th Regiment Royal Artillery has been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said today.

He was killed on a vehicle patrol in the Lashkar Gah district of central Helmand province.

Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson, a spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said: “He was one soldier, who was here for one cause, to help the Afghan people.

“This true hero paid the ultimate sacrifice and his memory will live with us forever. We mourn his loss and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this very sad time.”

Next of kin have been informed.

He is the 20th British serviceman to die in Afghanistan this month. Since the start of operations in 2001, 189 British service personnel have died.

An MoD spokesman said: “It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that a soldier from 40th Regiment Royal Artillery ‘the Lowland Gunners’, attached to the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, has been killed.”

His death comes after the head of the armed forces warned that British troops in Afghanistan faced more tough fighting – and more casualties – in the weeks ahead.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the chief of the defence staff, said soldiers taking part in the Operation Panther’s Claw offensive had faced an “enormous battle” to break through Taliban defences.

Meanwhile, Taliban fighters today attacked the main police station in the city of Khost, triggering gunbattles that left seven militants dead and four people wounded, officials said.

At least six fighters wearing suicide vests and armed with AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades stormed the area around the police station and a nearby government-run bank. All were shot and killed before they could detonate their explosives, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Another attacker blew up a car near a police rapid reaction force, killing himself and wounding two policemen, the ministry said. A woman and a child were wounded in the banki attack.

A ministry spokesman said all the attackers had been killed, but residents contacted by telephone from Kabul said sporadic firing could still be heard late today.