Brown on 100th British death in Afghanistan during 2009

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has released a statement following the death of a soldier from 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment - taking the number of UK service personnel killed in Afghanistan during 2009 to 100.

Today we mourn together the 100th British fatality in Afghanistan in 2009.

My thoughts, and the entire nation's, are with the families and friends of every one of those brave men who have died this year; indeed, with every one of our service personnel who have lost their lives serving our country in Afghanistan since 2001.

Every loss in Afghanistan is a real and personal tragedy.

And in these challenging times, when I reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of our armed forces and the contribution made by the families and communities who do so much to support and sustain them in their mission, I also reflect on the importance of the job they are doing, and the very real impact that they are having.

Our military presence in Afghanistan means that al-Qaeda cannot use the country as a base from which to plot terrorist attacks against Britain.

And the work of our armed forces in the next stage of the campaign, the training and partnering of the Afghan security forces to do this job for themselves, along with the political and civilian development of the country, will be vital in ensuring the British people are safer for generations to come.

I thank all our brave men and women for their commitment and courage.

We will never forget those who have died fighting for our country and we must also honour their memory. That means staying the course, doing what is right for Britain, and seeing this mission through.