A British army dog handler and an explosives sniffer dog have been killed during clashes with militants in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan.

The soldier from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, attached to 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, died last night, following an incident in the Sangin area of Helmand. His family has been informed.

The soldier was a dog-handler responsible for animals capable of searching for weapons and explosives. It is unclear what kind of mission they were undertaking during the fatal attack.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “It is with sadness that the MoD must confirm that a British soldier . . . died last night.

“On Thursday 24 July 2008 a routine patrol from Forward Operating Base Inkerman in the Sangin area came under enemy fire. Five other soldiers from 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment and one from 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment were injured by small arms fire.

“Five of the casualties are now unlisted and will be returning to duties, the remaining casualty will be returning to the UK for further treatment. The soldier’s injuries are not life threatening.”

Royal Navy Captain Michael Finney, spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, said: “I would like to offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of our fallen soldier.”

Southern Afghanistan is at the centre of the Taleban-led insurgency that has killed 2,700 people so far this year.

Yesterday’s death takes to 112 the number of British service personnel who have lost their lives in Afghanistan since the start of operations in November 2001.

It follows the death of Corporal Jason Barnes, 25, from Exeter, an Army weapons maintenance specialist, who was killed by a roadside bomb planted by insurgents in Helmand on Tuesday as he drove an ambulance back to base.

Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, today called on Pakistan to do more to help curb the flow of militants across its border into Afghanistan.

A resurgence in Taleban fighting in Afghanistan has seen militants seize a series of remote outposts. Many militants freely cross the Pakistan-Afghan border despite Pakistani military operations aimed at reducing the number of crossings.

“What we need to do is to look hard at how the Taleban is regrouping, why the Taleban is fighting in the way that they are now,” said Ms Rice after foreign policy talks in Australia.

Reports this morning suggested that international forces had killed 40 Taleban militants in an air strike on Ajristan, which was captured by the resurgent rebels on Monday.

Afghan and NATO-led ground forces had already begun a ground attack on the district, 124 miles southwest of Kabul, which had fallen into Taleban control.

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