UK loses 417th life to Afghan war

Another British soldier shot dead by small arms fire in the southwestern Afghan province of Helmand, raising the total number of British casualties since the Afghan war began in October 2001 to 417. The Ministry of Defense announced the soldier from the third Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment, was killed when on patrol in south of the Nahr-e Saraj district in Helmand Province. British forces in Afghanistan suffered another loss on Friday in the same area of Afghanistan. Corporal Michael John Thacker who was from the first Battalion, the Royal Welsh, was shot dead while on patrol also in the Nahr-e Saraj district.