This young Midland soldier was killed in an ambush in Afghanistan at the weekend - after being in the country for less than month.

Lance Corporal Steven Gregory Sherwood, aged 23, of Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, died during a patrol in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif which left five other troops injured.

The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry soldier was travelling in a convoy of two four-wheel drive vehicles which came under fire on Saturday.

The injured soldiers were airlifted from the scene and are being treated at a Nato military hospital in Kunduz.

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L-Cpl Sherwood had flown out to begin work in Afghanistan at the end of September.

His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Nick Welch, said the soldier, known as Shirley, had a keen sense of humour.

He said: "He epitomised all that is excellent about his regiment."

Defence Secretary John Reid, who visited the region earlier this month, said his "thoughts and sympathies" were with the friends and family of the dead soldier.

As he left RAF Fairford to head to Afghanistan last month, L-Cpl Sherwood spoke of his excitement at the task ahead. He said: "I can't wait to get out there. This is what I came into the Army for and it is great to be out there and working as a team with people who are great mates."

L-Cpl Sherwood joined the RGBW (LI) in June 1999 and served on a two-year operational tour in Northern Ireland.

The MoD said the soldier, who was not married, had also served in Belize, Jamaica, Norway and Kosovo.

Lt Col Welch said: "Steven Sherwood, known to his mates as Shirley, was a thoroughly professional and dedicated soldier who was promoted to lance corporal earlier this year.

"A highly capable field soldier at the top of his profession, he was a key member of his battalion's close reconnaissance platoon.

"In Afghanistan he worked as a key member of a tight-knit, experienced and highly professional military observation team.

"He thrived on the challenges provided by his team's tasks. He travelled with his team to parts of Afghanistan that had not previously been patrolled by the multi-national International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)."

The commanding officer said that on the night before his death, L-Cpl Sherwood provided first aid at the scene of a road accident involving an Afghan National Army patrol and a civilian vehicle.