Three British soldiers shot dead in Afghanistan

The Ministry of Defence announced that two soldiers serving with the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and one serving with the Royal Corps of Signals were killed in an incident at Check Point Kamparack Pul in Nahr-e-Saraj, Helmand.

The soldiers were serving in an Afghan Police advisory team and had been to the check point to conduct a shura (consultation). On leaving, they were shot by a man wearing Afghan police uniform. During the exchange of fire, the three soldiers were wounded and despite receiving first aid at the scene, they died of their injuries.

The spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Major Ian Lawrence, said: “Their loss will be felt deeply across Task Force Helmand. However, this will be nothing compared to the grief experienced by the soldiers’ families. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this extremely difficult time.”

The soldiers’ families have been informed and have asked for a 24-hour period of grace before further details are released.

The incident appears to be another so-called “green on blue” attack, where members of the Afghan security services have opened fire on international military personnel.

In May, two British soldiers were shot dead outside the British Army HQ in Helmand.

In November 2009, five British soldiers were killed by a rogue Afghan policeman. The gunman opened fire on the men in a military compound in Nad e-Ali before fleeing. The Taliban later claimed responsibility.

Responsibility handover

The shootings happened on the day Afghan National Security Forces took the security lead in southern Afghanistan.

In a ceremony at Camp Hero in Kandahar Province, the International Security Assistance Force handed over responsibility to the body, which includes the Afghan National Army, Afghan Uniformed Police, Afghan Border Police and Afghan National Civil Order Police.

The regional command (south) region, which includes Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan and Daykundi provinces, is the first area in Afghanistan where such a transition has taken place.

Major General Abdul Hamid, commander of the 205th Hero Corp, Afghan National Army, said of the move: “It wasn’t that long ago that we had no security forces. We started from scratch and today we have everything.”

Unease

Defence and Security Analyst Tim Ripley, of Jane’s Defence Weekly magazine, said such attacks were “a sign of growing unease in the country”.

He said: “There is the Nato withdrawal, peace arrangements that are happening, and the general fact that the war is still going on. It is a very uncertain time.

“There are three trends – some of these incidents are linked to personal arguments and, as everyone is armed to the teeth, things get out of hand.

“There is also the deliberate tactic by the Taliban to infiltrate agents into the police to launch these attacks. Then there is the uncertainty over the withdrawal that is leading to individual Afghans not knowing which side to back. Every incident is different.

Mr Ripley said it was not possible to eliminate such attacks: “The soldiers themselves can watch what’s going on, get a better idea of their allies and try to pick up early warning signs, but the fact they are working with them makes them vulnerable.

“It would defeat the purpose of what they’re doing if the soldiers had their own bodyguards, but this is now becoming a main cause of deaths of British soldiers in Afghanistan.”