.Afghanistan commanders fear Taliban infiltration as troops hunt assassin
British and Afghan commanders were last night undertaking an urgent investigation into the killing of five British soldiers amid concerns that the Taliban may have infiltrated the police force in Helmand. The troops were killed by a local police officer who opened fire as they sat drinking tea and fled.
The deaths prompted deep soul searching in Whitehall because Gordon Brown has put the training by the British army of a rapidly expanded Afghan security force at the heart of his exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Faced by Labour backbench calls for a phased withdrawal, Brown said the work of the troops must continue. "We must not allow ourselves to give up what the Afghan Taliban fear most: that we will have a strong Afghan security force that is Afghan-based and is able to face them," the prime minister told a sombre House of Commons.
The Liberal Democrats, the party most likely to advocate a withdrawal, said they would not to do so at this stage, but Nick Clegg, the party's leader, said: "Our mission in Afghanistan is in trouble because we do not have a legitimate government in Kabul, and we do not have a coherent international plan for Afghanistan."
The five soldiers were tonight named by the Ministry of Defence as Warrant Officer Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford, Guardsman James Major, Acting Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith.
According to military officials, they were killed while drinking tea inside a military compound in the village of Shin Kalay. Reports suggested they had taken off their helmets and body armour and had laid down their weapons, as proof of trust in their hosts.
They were fired upon by a policeman with a machine gun who was on the roof of a military checkpoint. Four were killed immediately and the fifth died of his wounds, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said.
It is thought the gunman had an argument with one his of superiors shortly before he opened fire.
Local elders said the man, named Gulbadin, had links with the Taliban.
British defence officials said there was no clear evidence the attack had been planned in advance by the Taliban, but the prime minister said this was a matter for investigators.
William Ferrand, the uncle of Sgt Telford, said: "Everybody knows what a wonderful lad he was. It has devastated all of us."
Ninety-two British service personnel have been killed in southern Afghanistan so far this year compared with 51 for the whole of last year. The deaths have made this year the bloodiest for the armed forces since the Falklands war.
Speaking at a press conference in Helmand's provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, Major General Nick Carter, British commander of Nato troops in southern Afghanistan, said every effort was being made to track down the killer.
Asked how British troops would be able to trust the Afghan police in future, Carter said: "The first point I would make is that we have to trust the uniform of the Afghan police. The second point … is that we will get better at this."
General Stanley McChrystal, commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, said he had received assurances from Hanif Atmar, the Afghan interior minister, that the incident would be "fully and transparently investigated".
With support for the effort in Afghanistan faltering, Brown used the incident to put fresh political pressure on Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president. He wants Karzai to set up an independent corruption commission and consider relinquishing his power to appoint his allies as provincial governors. Brown wants the most corrupt politicians arrested.
Downing Street and the White House are also demanding that Karzai produce a government devoid of its most corrupt figures.
Western governments are also looking at the possibility of an international conference in the new year that will examine a reworked Afghan constitution and the appointment of a stronger figure to co-ordinate the international civilian effort in the country. Lord Ashdown, a previous candidate for that post but vetoed by Karzai, is not being considered.
No 10 acknowledges that Karzai's flawed re-election and the mass killing of British soldiers by an Afghan policeman have been terrible blows but they insist the cabinet, intelligence services and most of the army remain united behind the broad strategy.
Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, dismissed a suggestion in today's Guardian by former Foreign Office minister Kim Howells that Britain could maintain security by relying on domestic measures alone. "We can't secure ourselves at the borders of Great Britain," he said. "If Afghanistan is not secure, then Pakistan will not be secure and Britain will not be secure. That is the whole purpose of us being there."
Guardian
The deaths prompted deep soul searching in Whitehall because Gordon Brown has put the training by the British army of a rapidly expanded Afghan security force at the heart of his exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Faced by Labour backbench calls for a phased withdrawal, Brown said the work of the troops must continue. "We must not allow ourselves to give up what the Afghan Taliban fear most: that we will have a strong Afghan security force that is Afghan-based and is able to face them," the prime minister told a sombre House of Commons.
The Liberal Democrats, the party most likely to advocate a withdrawal, said they would not to do so at this stage, but Nick Clegg, the party's leader, said: "Our mission in Afghanistan is in trouble because we do not have a legitimate government in Kabul, and we do not have a coherent international plan for Afghanistan."
The five soldiers were tonight named by the Ministry of Defence as Warrant Officer Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford, Guardsman James Major, Acting Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith.
According to military officials, they were killed while drinking tea inside a military compound in the village of Shin Kalay. Reports suggested they had taken off their helmets and body armour and had laid down their weapons, as proof of trust in their hosts.
They were fired upon by a policeman with a machine gun who was on the roof of a military checkpoint. Four were killed immediately and the fifth died of his wounds, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said.
It is thought the gunman had an argument with one his of superiors shortly before he opened fire.
Local elders said the man, named Gulbadin, had links with the Taliban.
British defence officials said there was no clear evidence the attack had been planned in advance by the Taliban, but the prime minister said this was a matter for investigators.
William Ferrand, the uncle of Sgt Telford, said: "Everybody knows what a wonderful lad he was. It has devastated all of us."
Ninety-two British service personnel have been killed in southern Afghanistan so far this year compared with 51 for the whole of last year. The deaths have made this year the bloodiest for the armed forces since the Falklands war.
Speaking at a press conference in Helmand's provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, Major General Nick Carter, British commander of Nato troops in southern Afghanistan, said every effort was being made to track down the killer.
Asked how British troops would be able to trust the Afghan police in future, Carter said: "The first point I would make is that we have to trust the uniform of the Afghan police. The second point … is that we will get better at this."
General Stanley McChrystal, commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, said he had received assurances from Hanif Atmar, the Afghan interior minister, that the incident would be "fully and transparently investigated".
With support for the effort in Afghanistan faltering, Brown used the incident to put fresh political pressure on Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president. He wants Karzai to set up an independent corruption commission and consider relinquishing his power to appoint his allies as provincial governors. Brown wants the most corrupt politicians arrested.
Downing Street and the White House are also demanding that Karzai produce a government devoid of its most corrupt figures.
Western governments are also looking at the possibility of an international conference in the new year that will examine a reworked Afghan constitution and the appointment of a stronger figure to co-ordinate the international civilian effort in the country. Lord Ashdown, a previous candidate for that post but vetoed by Karzai, is not being considered.
No 10 acknowledges that Karzai's flawed re-election and the mass killing of British soldiers by an Afghan policeman have been terrible blows but they insist the cabinet, intelligence services and most of the army remain united behind the broad strategy.
Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, dismissed a suggestion in today's Guardian by former Foreign Office minister Kim Howells that Britain could maintain security by relying on domestic measures alone. "We can't secure ourselves at the borders of Great Britain," he said. "If Afghanistan is not secure, then Pakistan will not be secure and Britain will not be secure. That is the whole purpose of us being there."
Guardian
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