Another British soldier has died in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defence said the soldier, from the Chepstow-based 1st Battalion The Rifles, was killed by an improvised explosive device on Sunday while on patrol in the Haji Kareen area of the Nahr-e Saraj (South) district of Helmand Province.

The death is the third to be announced in three days by the MoD.

A Royal Marine, from 42 Commando Royal Marines, was shot dead on Sunday morning on patrol in the Nahr-e Saraj area of Helmand.

Corporal Michael Pike, 26, from Huntly, Scotland, was fatally wounded by insurgents who attacked his patrol with guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the Lashkar Gah district of Helmand Province on Friday.

Spokesman for Task Force Helmand Lieutenant Colonel Tim Purbrick said: "It is with great sadness that I have to inform you of the death of a soldier from 1st Battalion The Rifles in the Haji Kareen area of the Nahr-e Saraj district in Helmand Province.

"The soldier was part of a foot patrol, supporting an Afghan National Security Forces operation to clear one of the last remaining insurgent safe havens in central Helmand, when he was fatally wounded by an improvised explosive device. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends."

The latest incident brings the total number of UK military personnel who have died since operations in Afghanistan began in 2001 to 371.

Cpl Pike died saving the lives of his comrades as he took on the enemy in a firefight, his men said.

His friends and colleagues, from 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, said he was killed "putting up a fight" and "saving the lives of the men he was devoted to".