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Family's tribute to dead soldier | Family's tribute to dead soldier |
(32 minutes later) | |
A grieving family has paid an emotional tribute to "a wonderful son" killed by a suicide bomb in Afghanistan. | A grieving family has paid an emotional tribute to "a wonderful son" killed by a suicide bomb in Afghanistan. |
Private Craig O'Donnell, 24, from Clydebank, Dunbartonshire was killed by a suicide bomb in Kabul on Monday. | Private Craig O'Donnell, 24, from Clydebank, Dunbartonshire was killed by a suicide bomb in Kabul on Monday. |
His girlfriend Jessica is carrying his child and the baby is due at Christmas. His parents said: "At this time words cannot express the depth of our grief." | His girlfriend Jessica is carrying his child and the baby is due at Christmas. His parents said: "At this time words cannot express the depth of our grief." |
Private O'Donnell was serving with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland. | Private O'Donnell was serving with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland. |
He was the 15th soldier to die within three days in Afghanistan. | |
Mixed with our profound sadness there is pride in the knowledge that he died while serving his country Private O'Donnell's parents | |
Private O'Donnell had served in Bosnia in 2005 and Kenya in 2006 before deploying to Afghanistan as part of the force protection element in Kabul in July. | |
His mother and father, Robert and Lorraine, said: "The family and all of Craig's friends were shocked and saddened to hear of his death. | |
"He was a wonderful son who lived life to the full and was an ardent fan of Celtic Football Club and the rock band Queen. | |
"He was a happy go lucky person who always put others first. | |
"He was looking forward to moving into married quarters and setting up home with his girlfriend, Jessica, and to the birth of their first child this coming Christmas." | |
'Serving his country' | |
His family said Craig wanted to join the army from the age of four and said they were proud of him. | |
They said: "He is sorely missed by all the family all of whom were extremely proud of him being a soldier and he was much looked up to by his younger sister Claire. | |
"At this time words cannot express the depth of our grief, but mixed with our profound sadness there is pride in the knowledge that he died while serving his country. | |
"He will be remembered by all that knew him forever." | |
Private O'Donnell was described by Commanding Officer Lt Col Simon West as "a very positive young man, well liked by all his peers and with a very bright future ahead of him". | |
He added: "He stood for all the right things in life and was a dedicated and professional Argyll soldier." | |
Another soldier was seriously injured in the attack on the Nato military convoy in the Afghan capital. | |
Active service | |
He has been taken to a military medical facility for treatment. | |
The Argylls have been on active service in Afghanistan for the past month. | |
Private O'Donnell's death has brought to 37 the number of UK personnel killed since operations began there in 2001. | |
On Saturday, 14 RAF Kinloss based troops died when their Nimrod crashed near Kandahar in Afghanistan. | |
An RAF inquiry team, which has begun its investigation into the weekend crash, confirmed that the crew reported a fire on board the aircraft. | |
Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy said the Nimrod had just completed a routine air-to-air refuelling when the alarm was raised. | |
The Nimrod fatalities are the biggest single loss of life suffered by British forces in the war on terror. |