KABUL, Afghanistan -- A British soldier has died when his patrol triggered an old land mine buried at an airfield in southern Afghanistan.
Military officials say the troops were checking vehicles on Saturday near Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, when they went to the nearby airfield to respond to a reported rocket attack.
The British Defence Ministry says while investigating, the troops dismounted their vehicles and what is believed to have been an old anti-personnel mine detonated, killing the soldier instantly.
Millions of mines were planted during Afghanistan's long wars, a legacy which continues to kill and maim unwitting victims, most of them civilians, despite a massive de-mining effort. That peril adds to the threat from Taliban insurgents, who are ramping up their attacks on security forces across the southern half of the country.
NATO says violence is surging because its troops are patrolling more aggressively in remote areas and because peace talks on Pakistan's side of the border have allowed militants to focus on cross-border operations.
--The Associated Press
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