Inquest told of 500lb bomb dropped on wrong target in Afghanistan ‘friendly fire‘ incident.

A commanding officer today relived the “grim” moment a US aircraft dropped a 500lb bomb on a position held by British troops, killing three soldiers.

Privates Aaron McClure, Robert Foster, both 19, and John Thrumble, 21, were under intense fire in Afghanistan’s Helmand province when the F15 fighter jet, called in to help, dropped the bomb on them instead of a Taliban position a kilometre further north.

The inquest had previously heard that grid co-ordinates communicated between an air controller and an American weapons officer “did not marry up”.  Read more... (537 words, 1 image, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

The role of British troops in Helmand, the province in southern Afghanistan where they have been deployed for four years, is coming under unprecedented scrutiny as US commanders draw up plans for what they hope will be a final and conclusive push against Taliban-led insurgents.

Contingency plans include the possible wholesale withdrawal of the 9,500 British troops from Helmand to neighbouring Kandahar, the Taliban heartland, where US-led commanders are finalising plans for the largest counterinsurgency and “hearts and minds” operation since 2001.Canada, which has provided the bulk of Nato troops in Kandahar, says it will withdraw all its forces there next year.  Read more... (804 words, 1 image, estimated 3:13 mins reading time)

In Sangin, says a farmer, ‘people are sick of night raids and being treated badly by the foreigners’

As with so many of the Helmand towns where the British are present the bazaar in Sangin is officially “thriving”.

Indeed, recent visitors have to admit that there are signs of commerce in the long thin strip of shops. But the rest, says David Gill, a photographer who visited Sangin three times last year, is like “a ghost town in Death Valley where you drive through and all you see is a sign flapping in the wind”.  Read more... (709 words, 1 image, estimated 2:50 mins reading time)

Almost a quarter of the low-ranking Taleban commanders lured out of the insurgency in southern Afghanistan have rejoined the fight because of broken government promises and paltry rewards, a scathing report on reintegration claims.

Nato plans to spend more than $1 billion (£648 million) over the next five years tempting Taleban foot soldiers to lay down their arms.

But research by a Kabul-based thinktank warns that those efforts could make matters worse by swelling the ranks of the insurgency, exacerbating village level feuds and fuelling government corruption.  Read more... (766 words, 1 image, estimated 3:04 mins reading time)

An Army soldier from Reinbeck has died in Afghanistan, defense officials said Saturday.

Command Sgt. Maj. John Keith Laborde, 53, died Thursday at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan in an incident not linked to combat, according to officials.

Details about the incident have not been released.

Laborde was part of the 649th Regional Support Group in Cedar Rapids.

1st Lt. Michael Meyer of the 103rd Expeditionary Support Command confirmed the death. Command Sergeant Major Laborde led a distinguished career of over 31 years in the military. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family here in Iowa, and to his comrades-in-arms still serving in Afghanistan,” Meyer said in a statement.  Read more... (360 words, 1 image, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

Family and comrades of Lance Sergeant David Walker honour the memory of a ‘terrific’ family man and ‘rock-hard’ soldier

Tributes have been paid to Lance Sergeant David Walker, of 1st Battalion Scots Guards, who was killed in Afghanistan while fighting the Taliban.

Walker, 36, died on Thursday in Nad-e-Ali, an insurgent stronghold in Helmand province. He was the third British solder killed while taking part in Operation Moshtarak – a joint UK, US and Afghan assault against the Taliban.

His family released a statement which read: “We are devastated by the loss of David, who was a terrific husband and father.  Read more... (496 words, 1 image, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Wootton Bassett prepared to honour two more fallen British soldiers on Tuesday as a controversial Islamic group pressed ahead with plans for a march through the town.

Islam4UK said it would apply to police ”in the next few days” to march through the Wiltshire town famous for honouring dead British troops, despite calls for it to be called off.

Hundreds of people will line the streets today to pay their respects as the the bodies of Rifleman Aiden Howell and Sapper David Watson being driven along the High Street. Sapper Watson, 23, of 33 Engineer Regiment – a bomb disposal expert – and Rifleman Howell, 19, of 3rd Battalion the Rifles were killed in Afghanistan in the last week of December.  Read more... (511 words, 1 image, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Friends of a British soldier killed in Afghanistan have spoken of their anger at plans by a controversial Islamic group to march through the town which honours fallen troops.

The Union flag-draped coffins carrying Rifleman Aidan Howell and Sapper David Watson were driven through Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire for their repatriation today.

Sapper Watson, 23, of 33 Engineer Regiment – a bomb disposal expert – and Rifleman Howell, 19, of 3rd Battalion the Rifles, were killed in Afghanistan in the last week of December.  Read more... (605 words, 1 image, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

Someone is going to burn in hellfire for eternity: The only question in today’s Outrage-Off is whether it will be the relatives of British troops killed in Afghanistan or Democrats.

CONTESTANT 1: Anjem Choudary, the cheerful and media-friendly professional contraversialist who heads Islam4UK, a British radical Islamic group, is planning a pro-Shariah march through Wootton Bassett, a town where the remains of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan have traditionally been honored with parades. (It would be sort of like a pro-Al-Qaeda rally at Dover Air Force Base.) Choudary rationally explained his intentions in an open letter to the families of the British war dead:  Read more... (334 words, 1 image, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

THE bodies of the last two British soldiers killed in Afghanistan last year were being driven through Wootton Bassett today as controversy raged about a planned march through the town by Islamic extremists.

Rifleman Aidan Howell, 19, and Sapper David Watson, 23, were the 107th and 108th British military personnel to lose their lives fighting the Taliban last year.

Their repatriation, first to RAF Lyneham and then to Oxford via Wootton Bassett, came amid outrage at a proposed march through the Wiltshire town by radical group Islam4UK. It plans to carry empty coffins through the streets to symbolise Muslims “mercilessly murdered” in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Read more... (355 words, 1 image, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)