The soldier died on Monday "in the course of his duties", a ministry spokesman told AFP. He declined to give details of where the soldier died or what unit he belonged to, explaining that the man's family had still to be informed.

But he said it was "very unlikely" that the soldier had been killed by friendly fire.

Twenty five other British soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the war nearly two weeks ago, 15 of them in accidents. Five have been killed by friendly fire and five have died in combat.

SPACE.WIRE