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Help for Heroes donations deluge crashes website after Woolwich murder

By Sharon Black

Military support charity inundated with calls and web traffic over soldier killed while wearing Help for Heroes top Help for Heroes has been swamped with donations, leading to its website crashing, after Drummer Lee Rigby was murdered while wearing one of the charity’s tops. Supporters of the military charity took to social networks in an attempt to boost its coffers after the 25-year-old was killed in Woolwich, south-east London, on Wednesday

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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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Afghan interpreters’ resettlement scheme ‘doesn’t go far enough’

By Sharon Black

Concerns raised over proposals that allow candidates to settle in Britain only if they have 12 months’ continuous service Lawyers representing Afghan interpreters have welcomed the news that about half of them are to be given settlement rights in the UK in recognition for risking their lives for British troops but expressed concerns that the reworked package does not go far enough. Under the proposals, any interpreters who have put themselves in physical danger working outside British military bases will be offered a resettlement package if they have been working for the UK forces for more than 12 months at the point of their redundancy. It is estimated that about half the interpreters working for the UK forces – roughly 600 – will qualify.

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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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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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Welsh airfield at the centre of Britain’s drone revolution

By Sharon Black

Owner of Aberporth base, where unmanned aerial vehicles take off for tests over land and sea, says public fears are illogical It is an odd little airfield, not far from Aberporth in west Wales, a former fishing village that now survives thanks to tourists with a taste for hill walking, windswept beaches and bracing swims in Cardigan Bay. Few of the visitors venture to the former RAF base close by, and those that do are unlikely to know this small site, which was first established in the early years of the second world war, is pioneering some of the most controversial technologies in modern conflict. The Ministry of Defence uses this privately owned airfield to test its “drones” – unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

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Man cleared of murdering two soldiers at Masareene barracks

By Sharon Black

Brian Shivers acquitted at retrial that followed quashing of original conviction for Ulster shootings A man has been acquitted of murdering two British soldiers in Northern Ireland. Brian Shivers, 47, of Co Londonderry, had denied all involvement in the gun attack outside the Massereene army barracks in Antrim in which sappers Mark Quinsey, 23, and Patrick Azimkar, 21, died. Two other soldiers and two pizza delivery men were seriously injured in the shooting in March 2009.

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The brutal death of Baha Mousa

By Sharon Black

Orwell prize-shortlisted author AT Williams on why he felt compelled to spend years investigating the death of an Iraqi civilian in a British army base in Basra in 2003 Baha Mousa was just a name at first.

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Fake bomb detector salesman sentenced to 10 years

By Sharon Black

Survivors of Iraq attacks to seek £7m compensation as judge describes fraud as ‘callous confidence trick’ The survivors of lethal Baghdad truck bombs driven through checkpoints equipped with fake bomb detectors are to lay claim to at least £7m of the assets of the Somerset fraudster who sold them. An Old Bailey judge sentenced Jim McCormick, 57, to 10 years in jail on Thursday for a fraud he described as the worst he could imagine and “a callous confidence trick”. Now a list of around 200 people either injured or related to the 95 killed in a double bombing on the Iraqi ministries of justice and foreign affairs in 2009 will be presented to the UK authorities

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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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Drones on the doorstep | David Shariatmadari

By Sharon Black

I grew up alongside RAF Waddington; its drones might at last be altering the attitudes of village green Lincolnshire Armed drones have been with us since only 2001 , yet it has already become a cliche that these weapons divorce the killer from the act of killing so completely that a “pilot” can execute a strike before nipping out for a sandwich in the Nevada sunshine. Nevada is one thing, but the wheat fields of Lincolnshire? The place I grew up?

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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

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UK would jeopardise military standing by leaving EU, says German minister

By Sharon Black

Thomas de Maizière says David Cameron seems not to have recognised profound defence implications of move Britain’s standing as a leading military power with the ability to influence events beyond its own borders will be jeopardised if the country leaves the European Union, the German minister of defence has warned. In an interview with the Guardian , Thomas de Maizière insisted the defence implications for Britain, Europe and Nato would be profound, and said this was an aspect of the argument David Cameron did not appear to have recognised.

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British holidaymaker pleads guilty to killing UK soldier in Cyprus

By Sharon Black

Mohammed Abdulkadir Osman, 19, admits manslaughter of Fusilier David Lee Collins, 19, in Ayia Napa A British tourist has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a UK soldier in Cyprus, a court official has said. Fusilier David Lee Collins, 19, from Manchester, was stabbed to death after a fight broke out in a nightclub in the popular resort of Ayia Napa, last November. Mohammed Abdulkadir Osman, 19, reportedly from London, admitted manslaughter at a court hearing in Larnaca, Photini Larcou, registrar of the court, said.