A bomb disposal expert was killed Monday by an explosion in Afghanistan, pushing Britain''s death toll in the conflict above that of the 1982 Falklands war, defence officials said.

The soldier was clearing a route in Helmand province when the blast hit. His death takes the number of British service personnel killed in the Afghan war since 2001 to 256, more than the 255 Britons killed in the Falklands.

"It is my sad duty to inform you that a soldier from 36 Engineer Regiment... was killed by an explosion this morning in Nad-e-Ali district," said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield.

Homemade bombs are the Afghan insurgents'' weapon of choice and responsible for most of the deaths and casualties among foreign troops in the war.

Britain earlier Monday vowed to stand firm in Afghanistan after the deaths of two soldiers the previous day brought the toll level to that in the 1982 war with Argentina.

The mounting backlash in Britain against involvement in Afghanistan is a contrast to the support ex-prime minister Margaret Thatcher received when she decided to go to war with Argentina.

Her popularity surged when she sent an expeditionary force to oust invading Argentinian troops from the Falkland Islands, known in Spanish as the Malvinas, in a 74-day war that left 649 Argentines as well as 255 Britons dead.