Private Gia Goguadze died in hospital after being badly wounded in an attack in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, the Georgian Ministry of Defense said on June 20.

“The Georgian military serviceman was injured during the attack of the insurgents. He was hospitalized though the medics could not save his life due to seriousness of injuries,” the MoD said.

With this latest death, total number of Georgian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, since joining the NATO-led operation in November, 2009, increased to nine.