British general’s son badly hurt in Helmand

The son of one of the British Army's most senior officers is reported to have lost a leg in a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan's Helmand province. He is 26-year-old Capt Harry Parker, the son of Gen Sir Nick Parker. Surgeons at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham fear he may lose the second leg too.

His father, who is due to take over as deputy commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan this September, which will make him the most senior British officer in the field, cut short his holiday on learning of his son's injuries.

A military source said: "General Sir Nick, his wife and the whole family are understandably devastated by what has happened to Harry. The general understands the risk more than most but it is still an appalling thing for any parent to go through."

Capt Parker was leading a foot patrol of the 4th Battalion The Rifles when he is understood to have set off an improvised explosive device, a favourite in the Taliban insurgents' armoury.

The death of another British soldier - a member of a bomb disposal team - was announced today, bringing the number killed in Afghanistan in July to 18. Many other soldiers are on the wounded list with Capt Parker: more than 150 were treated at the Camp Bastion field hospital last week, many with serious injuries, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Meanwhile, in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan, at least eight people were killed when Taliban suicide bombers attacked government buildings in the provincial capital, Gardez. Witnesses claimed two of the attackers were dressed in traditional female burkhas, Reuters reported. ·