KABUL, March 27 (Xinhua) -- A road accident in Afghanistan's southern Halmand province claimed the life of one British soldier and wounded three others Monday morning, a local official said.

    "The incident occurred in Helmand's provincial capital Lashkargah around 10 a.m. (0530 GMT) Monday when a vehicle of British soldiers rammed into a civilian lorry near the police department building, leaving one soldier dead on the spot," provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Sabir told Xinhua.

    He did not give more details.

    Helmand is one of the restive provinces where hundreds of Taliban loyalists are said to have hidden.

    Monday's incident took place just day after the British troops took over the command of the civilian unit of NATO troops, the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), in the province.

    Britain as part of supporting NATO's presence in the region is going to boost its military presence from 1,500 to 6,000 by the end of this year.

    The majority of these troops will be stationed in Helmand while their advanced party had been deployed there some two months ago. Enditem