COPENHAGEN, DENMARK - A Danish soldier seriously wounded in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan in late October died on Wednesday, the Danish armed forces announced.

Rune Westy Zacharias Nielsen, 22, was on foot patrol when the blast occurred near his unit's Barakzai base, in southern Helmand province, where Taliban insurgents are active.

His death brought to 27 the number of Danish troops killed since international forces deployed in Afghanistan in late 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the United States.

More than 700 Danish soldiers are taking part in NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Most of them are under British command.