A Danish soldier was killed in an explosion overnight during a patrol in Afghanistan. The soldier’s relatives have been informed.

Army Operational Command (HOK) said in a release that the Task Force 7 soldier had been on joint foot patrol with Afghan Police Special Forces in the Upper Gereshk Valley in Helmand Province.

HOK International Force Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Jens Riis told pol.dk that the patrol was about to search a farm when what is believed to have been a roadside bomb exploded.

The soldier was a member of Army Special Forces headquartered in Aalborg. Task Force 7 is a special unit that acts as a mentor for the Lashkar Gah-based Afghan Police Special Forces.

The death is the first Danish loss in Afghanistan since September 3, 2011.

Fifty-one Danish soldiers have lost their lives during international operations in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2002, 43 of whom have died in Afghanistan.

“It is with great sorrow that I must announce the death of one of our highly experienced soldiers during an operation in Afghanistan,” says HOK Commanding Officer Major General Agner Rokos.

“We will do everything we can to help the family at home and support colleagues in Helmand,” he adds.

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