Afghan policeman killed two Britons to save face, inquest hears

Corporal Channing Day and Corporal David O’Connor were shot dead while on their way to train local police in first aid

A drug-using Afghan policeman turned his gun on two British service personnel in an attack prompted by losing face, an inquest has heard.

The policeman, known as Naqib, and another off-duty Afghan policeman, killed Corporal Channing Day, 25, and Corporal David O’Connor, 27, while the victims were on foot patrol on 24 October last year in Helmand’s Nahr-e-Saraj district.

Day, of 3 Medical Regiment, was the third British servicewoman killed in Afghanistan since 2001. She was deployed a month earlier to provide medical support to 40 Commando Royal Marines, O’Connor’s unit.

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

Their inquest at Oxford county hall heard that in the aftermath of the attack – in which Naqib was shot dead and the other gunman escaped – other Afghan policemen appeared “at ease” and “unhelpful”.

Oxfordshire coroner 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.

“First of all, to the extent that there was any doubt before, this was, and should be termed as, an insider attack,” Salter said.

Describing Naqib, he said: “He was a known identified member of the Afghan Uniformed Police (AUP) and he was the person responsible for the inside attack. In terms of his motive, that is always going to involve some speculation, of course, because he is deceased. It doesn’t seem clear, and certainly there is no evidence, that he had any links to the insurgents or the Taliban.

“The incident the day before when Naqib and his brother were stopped does seem to be a matter that contributed. And there was a loss of face of both him and his brother.

“It appears in evidence, particularly in evidence from the persons that were present, that it was this individual who fired the shots on Day and O’Connor before he was killed.

“It seems likely that there was a second attacker. It is clear to me in evidence that it was the attacker Naqib who fired first.”

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, who said he had seen Naqib, whose AK47 had orange tape wrapped round it, several times in the weeks before.

He said he was usually friendly and they would communicate with each other in broken English or Pashtu, or by using hand gestures. Brown said Naqib was known to be a drug user.

Asked if he looked like he was under the influence of narcotics on the day of the attack, he said: “He did seem a bit vacant.”

Naqib’s brother was the commander of a local checkpoint and two of their brothers had …read more