Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 2006, Lance Corporal Paul Muirhead, of 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment, died from wounds sustained during a Taliban attack on his base at Musa Quala in Helmand Province five days earlier.

He had been receiving specialist medical care but sadly succumbed to his injuries; his mother had been flown out to see him in Oman, where he had been transferred for treatment, and was at his bedside when he passed away. Ranger Anare Draiva had been killed in that attack – both were part of a force of one hundred 1 Royal Irish soldiers serving in Helmand Province as part of the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment Battle Group.

Lieutenant Colonel Michael McGovern paid tribute to him: "Lance Corporal Muirhead was a calm, confident and determined member of the Patrols Platoon. A quiet exterior belied a character who was renowned for looking after the younger less experienced soldiers. He was widely respected across the Battalion. Lance Corporal Muirhead was an extremely experienced soldier who had served on Op Telic 1, the liberation of Iraq, in Northern Ireland and most recently a six month tour of Baghdad and Southern Iraq."

Paul, from Bearley, Warwickshire, was 28 years old.