UK soldiers Bodies give to their relative

Bodies of UK soldiers return home

The bodies of four British soldiers killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan are to return to British soil later.

Rifleman Aminiasi Train, 26, cpl Joseph Etchells, 22, Capt. Daniel Shepherd, 28, and garder Christopher King, 20, were all killed in Helmand province.

After accounting leading campaign for RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire, the cortege will pass through the nearby Wootton Bassett.

They were among 191 British personnel killed in conflict since 2001, including 22 this month.

The latest victims were two soldiers killed in separate incidents Monday morning.
Hundreds of British Legion veterans, shop keepers and residents are expected to line the streets again Wootton Bassett to pay their respects as the coffin passes.
Major assault

The cortege will pause at the War Memorial Museum before heading to Oxford's John Radcliff Hospital for autopsies.

Rifleman Train of 2 the battalion rifles from Suva, Fiji, was killed July 16 in an explosion during foot patrol near Forward Operating Base Keenan, near Gereshk.

Cpl Etchells, 2 Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers from Mossley, Greater Manchester, was killed July 19 in an explosion during foot patrol near Sangin.

Captain Shepherd, of 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, The Royal Logistics Corps, from Lincoln, died after an explosion on July 20 when he tried to remove a route in Nad-e-Ali District.

Garder King, of 1 Cold Stream Guards Battalion from Birkenhead, Merseyside, died July 22 during foot patrol in Nad-e-Ali District when he was an explosive.

He had been participating in Operation Panchai Palang or Panther's Claw a major offensive against insurgents ahead of next month's Afghan elections.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said the first phase of the operation - an offensive to gain ground from the Taliban - have now drawn to a close. He said that their victims had not been in vain.

Troops are now focusing on the second phase of the operation, to keep the ground gained in the last few weeks before attempting to maintain security during the elections.