One soldier has died and six others are injured after an attack on a Spanish convoy in the Afghan town of Sang Atesh.

The dead soldier has been named as John Felipe Romero Meneses (pictured), a21-year-old Colombian national serving with the Cazadores de Montaña "Arapiles 62" regiment, which has bases in Barcelona and Girona.

The attack was carried out this morning as the soldiers, along with members of the Afghan police, were escorting a convoy of vehicles carrying humanitarian aid for the region.

According to the ministry of defence, the Spanish troops' response to the mine attack on their armoured vehicle left at least three Taliban rebels dead.

The convoy, which comprised 11 Spanish armoured trucks as well as vehicles belonging to the Afghan police force, was attacked on the so-called Lithium Route, which links the towns of Qala i Naw and Bala Murghab.

The six injured soldiers were airlifted by helicopter to the military base in Herat.
  
The two most seriously injured soldiers are 28-year-old lieutenant Jordi Francesc Rubio Carceller, a married man from Hospitalet (Barcelona) and another Colombian national, 23-year-old Daniel Ospina Quintana.

The other four injured soldiers are 24-year-old Juan Morales Aroca from Sevilla), 20-year-old Joshua Alcalá Silvera from Tenerife, 23-year-old Carlos Gatos Guardado from Barcelona and 19-year-old Gerson Jaime Rodríguez from Colombia.

Spanish defence minister, Carme Chacón, will shortly be leaving for Herat to compile information about the attack and to coordinate the repatriation of the dead soldier's body.