The military has said that a Royal Marine who died in an explosion has become the 100th British troop killed in the Sangin area of southern Afghanistan.

The BBC has reported that the Ministry of Defense identified the solider as Bombardier Samuel Robinson, 31, of the 5th Regiment Royal Artillery, who was killed on foot patrol in Sangin on Thursday.

The Daily Telegraph further reported that another British soldier died hours after Robinson in Sangin, which lies in the center of the increasingly violent opium-growing region of north Helmand province.

The deaths came as Britain prepared to transfer control of the Sangin area to U. S. forces by year's end.

It was also reported that almost a third of Britain's 314 deaths in Afghanistan since 2001 have occurred in Sangin, the base for Royal Marines and supporting units of 40 Commando Battle Group.

U. S. Marines are to be moved from Nimruz Province to take control of the Sangin area.

According to the Daily Telegraph, that will leave the British military focused on central Helmand, a small area but home to a third of the province's population. (With Inputs from Agencies)