British Marine dies after Afghanistan road accident

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) A British Royal Marine died today from injuries sustained in a traffic accident while serving in Afghanistan this month, the Ministry of Defence said.

''Regrettably I must today report a further death of a Royal Marine in Helmand,'' Colonel Ian Huntley said in a statement.

''It is with profound sadness that I can confirm he died as a result of injuries sustained during a road traffic accident, whilst on routine convoy duties earlier in the month,'' he said.

Another Marine was killed by an anti-personnel mine while on patrol in Afghanistan yesterday, bringing to 47 the number of British soldiers killed while on operations in the country since 2001.

On Tuesday, Britain accused its NATO allies of failing to send enough troops and hardware to fight Taliban guerrillas in southern Afghanistan.

NATO has a force of more than 30,000 troops in Afghanistan and many countries have contributed, but the brunt of most fighting has been borne by U.S., British, Canadian and Dutch forces deployed in the restive south.

Britain is due to increase its force in the south of Afghanistan by 800 over the next few months, adding a third battalion of infantry and bringing its total number of troops above 6,000, nearly all deployed in the south.

REUTERS PDS RN0041