Northern Ireland Afghanistan Casualty Named

The young Northern soldier who died on Remembrance Sunday in Afghanistan has been named.

He was Ranger Aaron McCormick, 22, who came from the small village of Macosquin near Castlerock in Co Londonderry.

The DUP MP Gregory Campbell said the local community was in shock: "When the 1st Royal Irish were deployed to Afghanistan there was a sense of foreboding that at some point casualties would undoubtedly unfold," Mr Campbell said.

"I think everyone was steeling themselves for the first of the casualties and this young man unfortunately has been that casualty."

He was serving on his second combat tour with the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment in Afghanistan when he was killed in an explosion in the southern Nad'e Ali area, in the early hours of Sunday.

Today, it has emerged that a special assembly will be held on Wednesday at his former school, Coleraine Academical Institution.

(BMcC/GK)