Lucy Bogustawski
A British soldier was killed on patrol in southern Afghanistan yesterday.

The soldier, who has not been named, died when an improvised explosive device was triggered in Sangin, in Helmand province, the Ministry of Defence said.

The soldier is the 117th British serviceman to be killed in Afghanistan since operations began in November 2001.

He was from 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment and was killed while on a routine foot patrol yesterday morning, the MoD said.

Despite being given first aid at the scene he later died.

Next of kin have been informed.

Meanwhile, the mother and father of a soldier killed in Afghanistan took his place in a charity parachute jump yesterday.

Before he died in a road accident in Helmand in June, 32-year-old warrant officer Dan Shirley had talked about taking part in a skydive to raise funds for wounded soldiers.

The former Paratrooper wanted to jump with the Red Devils this year in aid of Help for Heroes, an organisation which supports the rehabilitation of British service personnel injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When the Red Devils asked who would like to take his place, his parents Janice and Geoff, of Wigston, Leicestershire, stepped in.

Yesterday, from some 13,000ft above ground, the Shirleys jumped separately at Langar Airfield in Nottinghamshire.

Mrs Shirley, 61, said: "It was a fantastic thing to do. It's not something I would choose to do but I have done it for Dan."

"It was fantastic to do it for him. I hope he's as proud of me as I am of him.

"Something just gave me the strength to do it."