ANTI-WAR protesters held a vigil at York Railway Station to mark the death of the 200th British soldier to die in Afghanistan.

York Against The War yesterday collected signatures in support of The Press Debt of Honour campaign as they read out the names of every member of the British Armed Forces who has died in the conflict as well as names of some of the many Afghanistan civilian casualties. Maurice Vassie, of the anti-war group, said: “We felt we needed to mark the 200th death. “The politicians are putting our soldiers’ lives at risk and they have given no clear indication why they are there.”

Members of the campaign approached passengers and travellers as they left the station to put their argument about why British troops should be pulled out of Afghanistan.

They also asked them to support The Press campaign for a radical rethink of the way this country treats troops, when they return physically and mentally ravaged by conflict.

Although they are against conflict as a response to terrorism, York Against The War members admire and have sympathy for the soldiers who serve in Afghanistan. They displayed a banner supporting their anti-war cause and spent an hour reading out the names of the dead. The organisation chose the station to hold the vigil because of the large number of people using it.

More than a dozen members took part.

The 200th soldier to die was Private Richard Hunt, 21, of The 2nd Battalion the Royal Welsh. He had been wounded when on patrol on August 12 and died of his injuries at The Royal College of Defence Medicine, Selly Oak, at the weekend. The British death toll for the Afghanistan campaign now stands at 204. He was one of five soldiers to die at the weekend.

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