LONDON - A British paratrooper was killed during a routine operation in Iraq earlier this week, the defence ministry said Friday.
The soldier, from the Parachute Regiment, was fatally wounded on Wednesday, the MoD (Ministry of Defence) said in a statement.
The death brings to 169 the total number of British troops to have died in Iraq since the March 2003 US-led invasion.
"It is with deep sadness that the MoD must confirm the death of a British soldier in Iraq," the ministry said.
"A member of the Parachute Regiment sustained fatal injuries in the early hours of Wednesday, September 5, whilst conducting routine operations in support of ongoing coalition activity in Iraq."
The soldier's next of kin have been informed, the MoD said.
Britain has about 5,500 troops in southern Iraq, based at an airfield outside the second city of Basra.
British forces on Monday completed the pull-out of troops from Basra Palace, their last remaining base inside the oil port city. It is now in the hands of Iraqi security forces.
British troops are in security control of the wider Basra province. Its troops in southern Iraq are transferring from combat to overwatch duties as they gradually hand over control to Iraqi security forces.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has consistently refused to set a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, insisting only conditions on the ground could determine when the time was right to pull them out.
rjm/mt/ach
09/07/2007 15:38 GMT