六名英军士兵在阿富汗被炸身亡 其中五人不满二十一岁

The identities of six soldiers killed in Afghanistan following a huge double explosion on their Warrior armoured vehicle have been released this morning.

The soldiers were killed on Tuesday night during a routine patrol on the borders of Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

The victims have been named today as Corporal Jake Hartley, 20,  Private Anthony Frampton, 20, Private Christopher Kershaw, 20, Private Daniel Wade, 20 and Private Daniel Wilford, 21 - all from the 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment. Sergeant Nigel Coupe, 33, from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment was also killed.

[From left, Sergeant Nigel Coupe, 33, Corporal Jake Hartley, 20, Private Anthony Frampton, 20, Private Christopher Kershaw, 20, Private Daniel Wade, 20, and Private Daniel Wilford, 21.]

The six victims were killed in a catastrophic double blast when the huge bomb triggered a second explosion of ammunition inside their Warrior armoured vehicle.

This reduced the 40-ton Warrior to a ‘riddled shell’, meaning it was impossible for any of its occupants to survive.

It was the worst single episode for UK troops in Afghanistan since a Nimrod crash killed 14 in 2006, and the biggest-ever loss to insurgent action.

It brought the British death toll in Afghanistan to 404.

Horrified colleagues saw the blasts from a second vehicle but there was nothing they could do to help.

It was less than a month since members of the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment left for Afghanistan.

Showing support: A young boy lays flowers outside Battlesbury Barracks in Warminster

Mourning: Two women embrace after attending a church service at St Giles Garrison Church, near 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment's barracks in Warminster, Wiltshire

Yesterday flowers were piling up outside their barracks at Warminster, Wiltshire, after one of the deadliest incidents in a decade of conflict.

The Taliban told the BBC they carried out the attack and were 'very proud of it'.

Upsetting: A soldier walks to lay a floral tribute at the 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment's barracks in Warminster, Wiltshire, after six soldiers were killed in Afghanistan

Pte Frampton went to Royds Hall High School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and signed up to the Army in 2009 at the age of 18, according to the Huddersfield Daily Examiner.

Pte Wilford was just 16 when he joined the Army and Cpl Hartley, a former student at Earlsheaton High School in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was 17 when he enlisted, the paper reported.

Dead soldier Sgt Nigel Coupe and wife Natalie had only just moved into a new home.

They lived with their two young children in the quiet seaside resort of Lytham St Annes, Lancashire.

Whilst on leave Sgt Coupe had been busy doing up the semi detached house they bought earlier this year.

Sgt Coupe was platoon commander on the ill-fated mission.

He was career soldier who met his wife when they were fellow pupils at the town's high school.

They bought their house just yards away from the home of Sgt Coupe's father Alan, a taxi driver, and his wife Linda.

The Duke of Lancaster's regiment have had a family officer at the Coupe household since Tuesday night's explosion.

A neighbour said: 'They are closely knit. Alan is a taxi driver and former chef.'

'But he calls his own car the grandchildrens' taxi.They are a patriotic family and always put out Union flags.'

'Where we live is like a community within a community- its not like the posh side of Lytham St Annes we are just ordinary folk with ordinary feelings and today those feelings for Nigel 's family are tearing us up.'

With UK troops due to withdraw in 2014, the country remains a lawless shambles run by a corrupt regime, and its future looks bleak.

Safety fears over the Warrior have been raised in the past after soldiers were killed in Iraq in 2007 when a bomb ripped through the unprotected underside of the vehicle.

It has been earmarked for a ￡1billion upgrade with a new system introduced to allow the vehicles to be fitted with different types of armour, but no work has yet been carried out.

Tragic: Six soldiers have been killed after a Warrior armoured vehicle was involved in an explosion in Afghanistan. Pictured are rescue teams from the army recovering the vehicle

Blast: The six soldiers were patrolling the border between Helmand and Kandahar provinces in a Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle similar to this one

Dangerous territory: Two Warrior vehicles were conducting a routine patrol on the border between Helmand and Kandahar provinces when one of the vehicles was involved in an explosion northwest of Durai Junction

David Cameron said it was a ‘desperately sad day for our country’.

He added: ‘Every death and every injury reminds us of the human cost paid by our armed forces to keep our country safe.’

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said it was a ‘cowardly attack’. 

British and Afghan troops are said to have been involved in a fire fight with insurgents as they recovered the bodies of the dead men.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Significantly, intelligence officers in southern Afghanistan have been warning for the past six weeks that insurgents were seeking to mount a ‘spectacular’ attack in the troubled Helmand province.

In the past week insurgent attacks against convoys, driven by local employed personnel, have soared and military sources in Helmand suggest that the attack was planned to hit a convoy but took the opportunity to hit a high-value target.

The main 601 route is known as the Highway of Hell after a catalogue of roadside bomb attacks.