London (ANTARA News/AFP) - A British airman was shot dead on Monday in an insurgent attack in Afghanistan, the 398th serviceperson to die since the military mission there started in 2001, the defence ministry said.

The airman from the Royal Air Force Regiment was killed while on a patrol aimed at building contacts with residents in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand Province, Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Mackenzie said.

His next of kin have been informed, the ministry said in a statement.

Britain has some 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, mainly based in Helmand in southern Afghanistan where they are battling a Taliban insurgency. Britain intends to pull out all its combat troops by 2015. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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