explosion in southern Afghanistan killed a British journalist

LONDON An explosion in southern Afghanistan killed a British journalist, a U.S. Marine and an Afghan soldier, Britain’s military said Sunday.The Sunday Mirror’s defense correspondent Rupert Hamer and photographer Philip Coburn were accompanying a U.S. Marine patrol in southern Afghanistan when the vehicle they were traveling in was hit by a makeshift bomb Saturday, the Defense Ministry said.Coburn and four Marines were seriously wounded in the blast, the military said.British defense minister Bob Ainsworth said Hamer and Coburn accompanied him on his most recent trip to Afghanistan and that he was “impressed by their hard work and professionalism.”My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the families, friends and colleagues of both men at this extremely distressing time,” Ainsworth said.A call seeking comment from the Sunday Mirror was not immediately returned. (AP)