A Marine from Camp Pendleton has been killed in combat in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced Friday.

Cpl. Gurpreet Singh, 21, of Antelope, Calif., was killed Wednesday in the Sangin region of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, long a Taliban stronghold. Singh was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, based at Camp Pendleton.

Five Marines from the battalion have been killed since April.

The 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment relieved the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, which had 25 killed and more than 200 wounded during its deployment to Sangin.

In intense fighting last year, Marines wrested control of central Sangin from Taliban fighters. But the Taliban has launched a counter-offensive to regain some of the key terrain as the "fighting season" begins, according to Marine brass.

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Remembering California's war dead

--Tony Perry in San Diego

Readers are invited to share memories about Cpl. Gurpreet Singh on the California's War Dead database, which chronicles the lives of more than 600 Californians who have died while supporting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.