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UK ordered to hold inquests into civilian deaths during Iraq war

By Sharon Black

High court rules that up to 161 allegedly unlawful killings by British military should be subject of coroner-style hearings A series of public inquests should be held into the deaths of civilians who are alleged to have been killed unlawfully by the British military following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the high court has ruled. In a ground-breaking judgment that could have an impact on how the British military is able to conduct operations among civilians in the future, the court ruled on Friday that up to 161 deaths should be the subject of hearings modelled upon coroners’ inquests.

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Woolwich attack victim named as Lee Rigby

By Sharon Black

Man, 25, killed in Woolwich was drummer in 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and father of two-year-old boy The soldier who was killed in the knife attack in Woolwich has been named as Drummer Lee Rigby, of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The Ministry of Defence released his details on Thursday, a day after the stabbing near the barracks in south London where he had been stationed.

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Woolwich attack victim was serving soldier, police confirm

By Sharon Black

Officials have contacted relatives of dead man, who is believed to have served in Afghanistan Scotland Yard has confirmed that the victim of the Woolwich machete attack was a serving soldier. Though he has not yet been formally named, the Guardian understands he had undertaken one six-month tour of Afghanistan and was stationed at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich

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Woolwich killing: horror on John Wilson Street

By Sharon Black

Eyewitnesses in shock as two men hack soldier to death in full public view, then ask for passersby to take photographs of them A meat cleaver is clasped in his blood-smeared left hand; the other – also stained red with human blood – waves manically as he shouts at the camera, ranting his justification for the atrocity on the streets of south-east London. At about the same time, in the nearby Musgrave primary school, the headteacher David Dixon ordered a lockdown after seeing the body of a man – believed to be a young soldier – lying on John Wilson street. If there was any doubt why this young man, who witnesses said was aged in his early 20s and wearing a Help for Heroes T-shirt, had lost his life in such a brutal fashion, that was soon quashed

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Some Afghan interpreters to be allowed to settle in Britain

By Sharon Black

Government revises earlier plan to leave most army interpreters in Afghanistan after pullout, risking Taliban reprisals About half the Afghan interpreters risking their lives for British troops are to be given settlement rights in the UK under a reworked package prepared by the coalition government.

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British man jailed for killing soldier David Lee Collins in Cyprus

By Sharon Black

Mohammed Abdulkadir Osman jailed for eight years for stabbing British soldier to death during fight at Ayia Napa nightclub A Manchester man has been jailed for eight years for the manslaughter of a British soldier in Cyprus, the Ministry of Defence says. David Lee Collins, 19, was stabbed to death after a fight broke out in a nightclub in the popular resort of Ayia Napa last November

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British troops face longer tours in Afghanistan

By Sharon Black

Up to 3,500 troops’ time will be extended by nearly half to ensure smooth handover to Afghan forces next year, say commanders Up to 3,500 British troops will have their tours in Helmand province extended by nearly half as part of the UK’s plans to hand over security to Afghan forces and end all combat operations next year, ministers will announce on Tuesday.

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Navy carrier jets ‘can’t land in hot weather’

By Sharon Black

Report warns of problems with Joint Strike Fighter and exposes costs of MoD U-turns The hi-tech jets that will be flown from the Royal Navy’s two new aircraft carriers cannot land on the ships in “hot, humid and low pressure weather conditions”, a report warns today. The version of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) that has been bought for the £5.5bn carriers is still in development but currently cannot land vertically – as its predecessor the Harrier jump jet could – in warm climates without jettisoning heavy payloads, the National Audit Office says.

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Plans to part-privatise military procurement come under scrutiny

By Sharon Black

Queen’s speech mentions moves to ‘improve the way this country procures defence equipment’ and boost reserve forces The Queen’s speech mentions two important forthcoming pieces of legislation in defence regarding proposals that are getting more controversial the longer they are scrutinised. The first involves plans to part-privatise the agency within the Ministry of Defence that deals with the buying, supplying and repairing of all military equipment

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Royal official handling press charter won damages over reporter’s SAS claim

By Sharon Black

Queen’s private secretary Sir Christopher Geidt won high court libel action against John Pilger and Central TV in 1991 The senior royal official tasked with handling the creation of a royal charter to regulate the press is a former military intelligence officer who successfully sued an investigative journalist who had sought to question his activities in Cambodia in the 1980s.

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Father of Iraqi allegedly murdered by UK soldiers gives evidence to inquiry

By Sharon Black

Khazaal al-Helfi describes via videolink how army body bag containing his 19-year-old son Ahmed was ‘full of blood’ The father of an Iraqi allegedly murdered by British soldiers has told a public inquiry that when a doctor opened an army body bag containing his 19-year-old son he saw “blood pouring out of his chest”. His son Ahmed had “gunshots on the side of his stomach … his hand was broken [and] the bag was full of blood”, Khazaal al-Helfi told the inquiry on Monday into allegations that British troops murdered up to 20 unarmed prisoners and abused others following a fierce battle with Iraqi insurgents in May 2004. Helfi was the first Iraqi witness to give evidence by videolink from the British embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, to the al-Sweady inquiry, named after the family of another 19-year-old Iraqi allegedly killed by British troops following a fierce gunfight with Iraqi insurgents.

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Fake bomb detector conman jailed for 10 years

By Sharon Black

James McCormick, who sold more than £55m worth of fake detectors likely to have caused Iraqi deaths, jailed for 10 years A fraudster who sold more than £55m worth of fake bomb detectors to Iraq and other security hot spots has been jailed for 10 years.

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SAS sniper Danny Nightingale gets retrial over illegally possessing pistol

By Sharon Black

Sergeant Danny Nightingale pleaded not guilty to charges after having conviction quashed by appeal court judges An SAS sniper faces a retrial over illegally possessing a pistol and ammunition – despite a last-minute claim prosecutors acted improperly by consulting on the case. Sergeant Danny Nightingale on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to illegally possessing a Glock 9mm pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition.

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Afghanistan bomb: UK to ‘look carefully’ at use of vehicles

By Sharon Black

Cameron pays tribute to three British soldiers killed by bomb and says effectiveness of armoured vehicles will be assessed David Cameron has said the government will “look carefully” at the use of heavily armoured vehicles after three British soldiers were killed in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb while travelling in a Mastiff troop carrier. The prime minister paid tribute to the soldiers and said British troops have paid a “very high price” in Afghanistan

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The Taliban spring offensive – civilians count the cost

By Sharon Black

No major offensive has accompanied the resumption of widescale fighting but it has not stopped civilian casualties rising markedly The Taliban’s annual spring offensive was not marked with a big operation this year, as it did last year when the militants unleashed a string of attacks around Kabul and across Afghanistan.

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UK soldiers killed in Afghanistan bomb attack were in latest Mastiff 3 vehicle

By Sharon Black

Heavily armoured vehicle has previously been praised by soldiers for its resilience in bomb attacks The Ministry of Defence has said that three soldiers who were killed in Helmand province after a roadside bomb attack were travelling in the latest Mastiff 3 armoured vehicle. The US-made Mastiff has previously been praised by soldiers for its resilience in bomb attacks

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Afghanistan roadside bomb kills three British soldiers

By Sharon Black

David Cameron pays tribute to soldiers after explosion that also injured another six UK service personnel Three British soldiers have been killed and several others injured after the heavily armoured vehicle they were travelling in was hit by a large roadside bomb while they were on a routine patrol in Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday the men had been killed on Tuesday in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province, on the border of Kandahar just north of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. It is understood six other Britons were injured in the explosion, which happened while the soldiers were inside a Mastiff troop carrier – a 15-tonne vehicle which is regarded as one of the safest operated by the British military

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Afghan blast kills British troops

By Sharon Black

Three dead after roadside bomb attack on patrol vehicle in Helmand province, Ministry of Defence confirms Three British soldiers have been killed in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed. The soldiers were on a routine patrol when their vehicle was struck by an improvised bomb in Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province, on Tuesday, the military said.

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British troops to Syria unlikely despite evidence of chemical weapons use – PM

By Sharon Black

David Cameron reiterates President Obama’s claim that issue is a ‘red line’ but says ground forces will not be sent to conflict British troops are unlikely to be sent to Syria despite “limited but growing evidence” that chemical weapons have been used in the country’s civil war , David Cameron has said. The prime minister agreed with Barack Obama that the issue was a “red line”, but said he neither wanted nor expected it to precipitate the deployment of UK forces.

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UK starts controlling drones in Afghanistan from British soil

By Sharon Black

RAF’s unmanned Reaper aircraft had been operated from Creech airforce base in Nevada, but missions from Lincolnshire began this week Remotely controlled armed drones used to target insurgents in Afghanistan have been operated from the UK for the first time, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday. Missions of the missile-carrying Reaper aircraft began from a newly built headquarters at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire earlier this week – five years after the MoD bought the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to monitor and attack the Taliban.

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MoD poised to privatise part of troubled defence procurement process

By Sharon Black

Announcement expected to say that everyday management of Defence Equipment & Support will be handed to private sector Ministers are poised to announce the next stage of controversial reforms that will give private firms a chance to run the organisation that buys and supplies billions of pounds’ worth of defence equipment to the British military. The Treasury has given the green light to proposals that will open up the possibility of part-privatising Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) , the body within the Ministry of Defence in charge of procuring everything from new warships to lightbulbs

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Why do the British armed forces still allow 16-year-olds to enlist?

By Sharon Black

Charities have accused the Ministry of Defence of recruiting child soldiers, but it argues that military life offers a wide range of benefit to under-18s In the UK, 16-year-olds cannot vote, drive a car or drink alcohol. But they can join the army, and this week two charities, Child Soldiers International and ForcesWatch, accused the Ministry of Defence of perpetuating the ” outdated ” practice of recruiting children into the forces.The charities argued that the government was wasting taxpayers’ money – as much as £94m a year – recruiting 16-year-olds into the army