A BRITISH soldier killed in a firefight in southern Afghanistan was named today by the Ministry of Defence as Private Jason Lee Rawston of the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment.
He was part of a routine patrol in Helmand Province that encountered Taliban forces on Friday morning.
In the ensuing firefight, the 2 Para soldier was shot in the head and killed instantly, an MoD spokesman said. Next of kin have been infor
med.
Task Force Helmand spokesman Lieutenant Colonel David Reynolds said: "It is hard to absorb the pain that this soldier's family, friends and comrades feel. His family are in the thoughts of everyone in Task Force Helmand and, hopefully, that will bring some comfort to them."
The soldier's death comes after a decorated war hero killed trying to disarm a Taliban bomb in Afghanistan on Wednesday was named as Warrant Officer Class 2 Gary O'Donnell.
O'Donnell, 40, of the Royal Logistic Corps, died just nine weeks after the birth of his son. He was blown up as he approached the device near Musa Qala, also in Helmand.
The bomb disposal expert, who was from Edinburgh but was living in Leamington Spa, was awarded the George Medal last year for the courage he displayed while serving in Iraq in 2006.
He was also hailed a hero for his life-saving work in Afghanistan, including one operation over the summer where he defused eight deadly booby-traps in a day.
His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Wilson, paid tribute to an "amazing" man who was "hugely talented and unbelievably brave".
O'Donnell was able to meet his newborn child, Ben, while on leave in the UK a few weeks ago. He leaves behind three other children – Aiden, eight, and two teenagers from a previous marriage, Dylan, 16, and Kayleigh, 14.
His widow, Toni, said yesterday: "Gary was living the dream and we are all very proud of who he was, and he will be missed greatly."
The soldier died while leading a small team sent in to neutralise an improvised explosive device found by a Royal Engineers search team to clear a route for 5 Scots Battlegroup.
Wilson said: "He was at the very top of his extremely dangerous and difficult trade. It was a trade at which he excelled. It was his passion and he took immense pride in making places safer for other people. The danger to his own life rarely seemed to affect him."
O'Donnell's George Medal citation said he had showed "selflessness and composure in challenging and distressing situations".
It went on: "He has demonstrated consistent bravery in rendering safe devices intended to kill and maim by a highly-sophisticated enemy.
"It is without question that he saved lives whilst risking his own and is worthy of true recognition."
He was awarded the medal for two particular incidents in Basra, southern Iraq, the second of which involved him spending four hours in a protective suit in boiling temperatures deactivating a bomb made of 23 large explosive charges.
The latest death takes the number of British service personnel killed in Afghanistan since operations began in October 2001 to 119.
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