The two NATO soldiers shot dead in Afghanistan by a man in Afghan police uniform were a Briton and a Nepali serving with the British Army Gurkha brigade, the British embassy in Kathmandu said Thursday.

Lieutenant Edward Drummond-Baxter and Lance Corporal Siddhanta Kunwar, both from 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, were killed on Tuesday while on patrol in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province, the embassy told AFP.

Kunwar, 28, deployed to Afghanistan on October 3 as a sniper section commander attached to 40 Commando Royal Marines and was on his third tour of Afghanistan.

His father, step-mother, four sisters and brother released a statement describing their shock at his death. "He enjoyed immensely his profession and was fully committed towards it. He has made us proud," it said.

Drummond-Baxter, 29, had recently left Nepal, where he had learned Nepali and was assisting with the annual Gurkha selection process. "He loved the Gurkhas and died among friends doing the job that he wanted to do," his family said in a statement released by Britain´s Ministry of Defence.

Some 3,000 Nepalese soldiers serve alongside British officers in the Gurkha brigade, which has played a valued role in the British army for nearly two centuries.

The deaths, claimed by the Taliban, brought to 437 the number of British troops killed since operations in Afghanistan began in October 2001. Of these, at least 394 were killed as a result of hostile action.

Published on: 1 November 2012 | Republica