Rogue policeman killed local soldier in Afghanistan

Rogue policeman killed local soldier in Afghanistan

18 September 2013

AN inquest in England has heard that a drug-using Afghan policeman turned his gun on a Comber soldier in an attack prompted by losing face.

Twenty five year-old Corporal Channing Day and one of her colleagues were shot dead while on foot patrol on October 24 last year in Helmand’s Nahr-e-Saraj district.

The inquest at Oxford County Hall last week heard that the off-duty officer, known as Naqib, killed Corporal Day and Corporal David O’Connor (27).

Corporal Day, who served in 3 Medical Regiment was the third British servicewoman killed in Afghanistan since 2001.

She had been deployed a month earlier to provide medical support to 40 Commando Royal Marines which was Corporal O’Connor’s unit.

The pair were on their way to train local police in first aid and spot roadside bombs when their patrol was attacked near the village of Char Kutsa.

Their inquest heard in the aftermath of the attack, in which Naqib was shot dead, other Afghan policemen appeared “at ease” and “unhelpful”.

Oxfordshire coroner, Mr. Darren Salter, who recorded a verdict of unlawful killing while on active service, said the day before the attack, Naqib and his brother lost face when they were disarmed by British soldiers outside the region’s Patrol Base One.

Corporals Day and O’Connor were the last two members of an eight-person patrol group. Directly in front of them was intelligence expert Corporal Nick Brown.

He told the inquest he had seen Haqib, whose AK47 rife had orange tape wrapped around it, several times in the week before. Corporal Brown said Naqib was usually friendly and was known to be a drug user.

The inquest also heard from Corporal Philip Benford, who was in command of the patrol group.

He said he saw two men fire at them with Kalashikov weapons as they arrived at a checkpoint. The British soldiers fired back, killing Naqib.

The coroner said there was no doubt that the killings were the result of an insider attack.

“Naqib was a known identified member of the Afghan Uniformed Police and he was the person responsible for the inside attack,” he said.

“The incident the day before when Naqib and his brother were stopped and challenged at Patrol Base One does seem to be related and does seem to be a matter that contributed.”