WO1 Darren Chant, Sgt Matthew Telford, Guardsman James Major, Cpl Steven Boote and Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith killed in Afghanistan

“]From top left: Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford and Guardsman James Major, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards. From bottom left: Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, Royal Military Police [Pictures: via MOD] Tributes to the five men killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday 3rd November were posted here by the MOD.

Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford and Guardsman James Major, all of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, as well as Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, both of the Royal Military Police, were killed on Tuesday 3 November 2009.

The soldiers were all killed as a result of gunshot wounds sustained in an attack at a police checkpoint in the Nad e-Ali district of Helmand province.

Click here to read the full eulogies and tributes to Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford and Guardsman James Major.

Click here to read the full eulogies and tributes to Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith.

Paying tribute to the five men, Secretary of State for Defence, Bob Ainsworth, said:

“I was so very sorry to hear of the deaths of these five brave soldiers, killed in the course of their duties in Afghanistan. That they were killed by one of those they were working alongside is a particular tragedy.

“The memory of WO1 Darren Chant, Sgt Matthew Telford, Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith, Cpl Steven Boote and Guardsman James Major will live on. They were men of courage who died building security in Afghanistan and protecting people in the UK from terrorism.

“My deepest sympathies and condolences lie with their grieving families, friends, and all those who served alongside them, who will feel the pain of loss most intensely. They are in all our thoughts.”

My thoughts lie with the many family, friends and colleagues of the fallen.

Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Military Operations | WO1 Darren Chant, Sgt Matthew Telford, Guardsman James Major, Cpl Steven Boote and Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith killed in Afghanistan.

Five British soldiers killed in Afghanistan

The sad news of the death of five British Soldiers yesterday means that 2009 has been the worst year for the Armed Forces since the Falkland war.

Channel 4 News had this to say :

An Afghan policeman shoots dead five British soldiers at a checkpoint in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence confirm. The soldiers, from the Grenadier Guards and the Royal Military Police, had been mentoring Afghan National Police.

In a statement the MoD said that three soldiers from the Grenadier Guards and two from the Royal Military Police were killed when an Afghan policeman opened fire at a checkpoint in Afghanistan’s Nad-e’Ali District yesterday. Three Afghans also died in the shooting.

The soldiers had been living with the Afghan National Police while mentoring them at the checkpoint. Lt Col David Wakefield, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said that the “rogue” individual who carried out the attack was from the Afghan security forces. It is reported that the killer has since escaped.

“An Afghan national policeman from the checkpoint started firing without warning before anyone could really respond,” the defence spokesman said.

“Every effort is being put into hunting him down.”

Several other wounded men were flown to the British headquarters at Camp Bastion along with the casualties.

The families of the soldiers have been informed.

The deaths bring the total toll of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan to 229. Britain’s Armed Forces have suffered the bloodiest year of action since the Falklands War.

My thoughts are with the Family, friends and colleagues of these five brave men and also with those of the wounded.

Five British soldiers killed in Afghanistan – Channel 4 News.