GUNNED DOWN AS THEY HAD TEA; 5 SOLDIERS KILLED BY AFGHAN ASSASSIN: 5 KILLED AT TEA.Byline: CHRIS HUGHES FIVE British soldiers gunned down by an Afghan police officer they were training died while preparing for tea. The rogue cop switched his AK47 to automatic and poured bullets into the men as they sat down to eat in a fortified fortified (fôrt  ´fīd),adj containing additives more potent than the principal ingredient. compound in lawless Helmand province after a patrol. The dead are Sgt Matthew Telford, Sergeant Major Darren Chant and Guardsman James Major
James Major (born 1975) is the son of former British Prime Minister John Major. He was educated at Kimbolton. of the Grenadiers and Acting Cpl Steve Boote and Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith of the Royal Military Police The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the branch of the British Army responsible for the policing of service personnel and providing a military police presence on service property, operations and exercises. . They had been mentoring local police, sharing their billets and the dangers of daily patrols. The assassin, named as Gulbuddin, fled. Last night Gordon Brown called the massacre "a terrible loss" but vowed to carry on the fight. But, amid fears the Taliban have infiltrated large partsof Afghanistan's police and army, many Labour MPs said it was time to consider pulling out our 9,000 troops.Kim Howells, head of the CommonsIntelligence and Security Committee, said: "It would be better to bring home the greatmajority of our fighting men and women." The ex -Foreign Office minister added thatthe billions being spent in Afghanistan could then be used "to secure our own borders". Senior Labour backbencher back·bench n. 1. Chiefly British The rear benches in the House of Commons where junior members of Parliament sit behind government officeholders and their counterparts in the opposition party. 2. David Winnick David Julian Winnick (born 26 June 1933) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He is Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Walsall North. Winnck was an advertising manager and a branch chairman of the Clerical and Administrative Workers Union. challenged Gordon Brown directly: "Isn't the country entitled to know how longBritish military personnel will be in Afghanistan and can this war be won?" Tuesday's attack, which wounded six more UK soldiers and two Afghans, takes British dead in the conflict to 229 since 2001.And with 92 dead so far, it makes 2009 thebloodiest year for the armed forces since the 1982 Falklands War. A UK military spokesman said: "It's our understanding that one individual AfghanNational Policeman, possibly in conjunctionwith another, went rogue. His motives and whereabouts are unknown at this time."Sgt Telford, 37, from Grimsby, Lincs, joinedup at 16. He leaves a wife Kerry and two sons aged four and nine. He was due to return home on leave in a fortnight. His uncle William Ferrand said: "It was his job and he loved it. He was a wonderful lad. His sons will be devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. . "Whatever Kerry wants, the family will help her. We're a military family but Matthew was the first to join at 16. Nobody wants their familyout there but it was what he wanted to do." CAPTION(S): MURDERED Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith with girlfriend Emma Robinson MURDERED Guardsman Sgt Matthew Telford and his widow Kerry MURDERED James Major of Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards. MURDERED Sgt Major Darren Chant KIT Blood-soakedbody armour of oneof the shot troops MOURNED Sgt Matthew Telford and his wife Kerry DEAD RMP RMP right mentoposterior (position of the fetus). officer Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith |
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