(RTTNews) - A Danish soldier was killed after being shot by unidentified attackers while on a foot patrol with his unit in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, according to a statement released by the Danish army on Friday.

The statement said that the incident occurred when the soldier was on a foot patrol in a market area close to the Sandford Camp in the Gereshk Valley.

The Army Operational Command said in the statement that the severely injured soldier was flown immediately to a military hospital for treatment, but was pronounced dead upon arrival.

The army did not identify the dead soldier in the statement, but said that he was a member of the Royal Life Guards, an infantry unit.

Denmark has some 700 troops serving under the NATO command in Afghanistan, mostly based in the volatile Helmand province. The Nordic country has lost 26 of its soldiers in Afghanistan since joining the U.S.-led coalition in 2002.

Presently, there are some 100,000 foreign troops from more than 42 countries in Afghanistan under the commands of the NATO and the United States, fighting Taliban insurgents. U.S. is the biggest contributor to the coalition forces in Afghanistan, with about 62,000 troops on the ground.