A soldier from 4^th Battalion, The Rifles, died on Sunday morning from injuries sustained in an explosion near Sangin in central Helmand province, the ministry said in a statement.

Hours earlier, it had announced that a soldier with 2^nd Battalion, The Rifles, had been killed on Saturday afternoon in a blast in the same area of Helmand, where most of Britain’s 9,000 troops are based.

The fatalities were announced on Remembrance Sunday, the day each year when Britain and the Commonwealth countries remember their war dead.

Five soldiers were killed last week when a rogue Afghan soldier attacked a checkpoint in Helmand, sparking fresh questions about their mission there amid declining public support for the war.