Tag: nvar-pvar

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China is fifth-largest arms exporter

By Sharon Black

Pakistan the main customer as Beijing exceeds Britain’s share of weapons market while remaining far behind US and Russia China has become the world’s fifth-largest arms exporter, according to a Swedish-based thinktank. It is China’s highest ranking since the cold war, with Pakistan the main recipient. China’s volume of weapons exports between 2008 and 2012 rose 162% compared with the previous five-year period, with its share of the global arms trade rising from 2% to 5%, said the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

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‘Extraordinary courage’ of soldier killed in Afghanistan earns Victoria Cross

By Sharon Black

Lance Corporal James Ashworth, 23, died in a grenade explosion as he tried to protect his men in Helmand A British soldier who died as he protected the lives of his comrades in Afghanistan is to be awarded the Victoria Cross. The medal recognises Lance Corporal James Ashworth’s “extraordinary courage” while serving with the 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards in Helmand province last year. The Victoria Cross, the country’s highest award for gallantry, has been awarded just 10 times to UK soldiers since the second world war

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SAS sniper Danny Nightingale has gun possession conviction quashed

By Sharon Black

Court of appeal orders retrial after sergeant’s lawyers argue he was put under pressure to plead guilty An SAS sniper has had his convictions for illegally possessing a pistol and ammunition quashed by the court of appeal. Danny Nightingale, 38, of Crewe, Cheshire, had been sentenced to 18 months’ military detention by a judge sitting in a military court in November 2012 after admitting he should not have stored a Glock 9mm pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition at his army lodgings.

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SAS sniper appeals against conviction for possessing pistol

By Sharon Black

Lawyer for Sergeant Danny Nightingale says he was put under ‘undue pressure’ to plead guilty at military court An SAS sniper jailed for illegally possessing a pistol and ammunition has tried to persuade the court of appeal to overturn his convictions. Sergeant Danny Nightingale, of Crewe, Cheshire, was sentenced to 18 months’ military detention by a judge sitting in a military court in early November after admitting illegally possessing a Glock 9mm pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition. The court of appeal concluded in late November that the sentence was too harsh.

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MoD accused of neglecting Iraq war casualties

By Sharon Black

In the first of a three-part series marking the 10th anniversary of the invasion, an army officer tells how he lost his marriage, his career and, for a while, his mind through PTSD Captain Edward Bland left Iraq on an emergency flight in July 2006, airlifted out of the country on a “casualty evacuation” military plane that took off from the Shaibah base, where he had been treated in hospital for a week. His thoughts were scrambled that hot morning as the RAF C-17 arced into the sky. He knew he would not return to combat, and he knew his career in the army, which had been so promising, was over

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Iraq torture claims ‘utterly groundless’, Al-Sweady inquiry hears

By Sharon Black

Allegations of unlawful killing and mistreatment of prisoners by British soldiers denied by officers and troops involved Allegations that British soldiers tortured and unlawfully killed Iraqi prisoners after a firefight in 2004 are “utterly groundless” and were exploited in support of a propaganda campaign against the occupation of the country, a public inquiry heard on Monday. The killing and mistreatment claims are denied by each of the officers and men involved in that engagement, and by those involved in the capture and interrogation of Iraqis in its aftermath, Neil Garnham QC, counsel for the troops, told the inquiry. “They are denied on the basis that they are wholly untrue,” he said

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Photographs may help explain Iraqi deaths, al-Sweady inquiry hears

By Sharon Black

British troops alleged to have murdered up to 20 prisoners after a fierce battle in May 2004, and tortured five other captives Photographs of dead Iraqis taken by a British army officer after a battle in the south-east of the country may be the key to establishing whether they were killed during that encounter or murdered after being taken prisoner, a public inquiry heard on Tuesday.

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Defence secretary: I will resist further cuts

By Sharon Black

Philip Hammond says defending country should be first priority and that savings should be made from benefits bill first The defence secretary, Philip Hammond, has warned that he will resist further cuts to the armed forces in George Osborne’s forthcoming spending review. He told the Daily Telegraph that other Tory cabinet ministers believed the greatest burden of any cuts should fall on the welfare budget.

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Rockets fired at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan

By Sharon Black

Helmand province base comes under attack, but Ministry of Defence says no casualties reported Insurgents have launched a rocket attack on the main coalition military base in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. The heavily fortified Camp Bastion, which accommodates up to 4,000 UK, American, Danish and Estonian troops, was targeted at about 6.30pm local time as darkness fell

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Armed forces may need to find £17bn of savings over next decade, report says

By Sharon Black

Predicted reductions in MoD budget could lead to drastic measures such as axing another 15,000 jobs, report says The armed forces may need to find up to £17bn of savings over the next decade unless ministers ring-fence the defence budget from further cuts – a target that would require drastic measures such as axing another 15,000 frontline jobs, according to a report published on Wednesday.

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Arctic convoy and Bomber Command veterans to get decorations for bravery

By Sharon Black

New medals and clasps will be given to surviving veterans within fortnight after government bows to years of campaigning Surviving veterans of the Arctic convoys and Bomber Command will receive new medals or clasps within a fortnight following the government’s decision to bow to years of campaigning and properly acknowledge their bravery during the second world war. Up to 250,000 veterans will be eligible for the decorations, but those still living or their widows will receive the awards first, the defence minister Mark Francois will announce on Tuesday

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Military staff fear redundancy if they complain about bullying, says report

By Sharon Black

Defence select committee review urges appointment of Armed Forces Ombudsman to oversee cases of victimisation Military personnel have been deterred from making complaints about bullying and victimisation within the armed forces because of fears they will be put in the frontline for redundancy, a report warns today. The problem is another reason why the system for investigating harassment and other abuses should be overhauled and scrutinised by a new Armed Forces Ombudsman working outside the military chain of command, say MPs on the defence select committee.

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Royal Marines murder charges dropped

By Sharon Black

The pair of soldiers were among a group of five due to face accusations of killing a captured Afghan national Murder charges against two Royal Marines accused of killing a captured Afghan national have been dropped, it emerged tonight.

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Two British servicemen shot dead by rogue Afghan soldier, inquest hears

By Sharon Black

Sergeant Luke Taylor and Lance Corporal Michael Foley killed by Afghan National Army soldier with a personal grievance Two British servicemen were shot dead by a rogue Afghan soldier with a personal grievance, their inquest has heard. Sergeant Luke Taylor, 33, of the Royal Marines, and Lance Corporal Michael Foley, 25, of the Adjutant General’s Corps, were killed at their forward operating base in Lashkar Gah on 26 March last year. Their inquest in Oxford heard the Afghan was waiting outside the base with other men to collect a VIP.

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David Cameron gives green light for aid cash to go on military

By Sharon Black

Hundreds of millions of pounds may be diverted to peacekeeping defence operations in bid to placate backbenchers Hundreds of millions of pounds from Britain’s aid budget are expected to be diverted to peacekeeping defence operations as the government moves to build up support on the Tory benches for overseas development. Amid deep unease among Conservative MPs at the size of the £10bn aid budget, which has increased while defence spending has been cut, David Cameron said on Wednesday that he was “very open” to the idea of pooling more resources. Speaking in Amritsar on the final leg of his Indian trip, the prime minister said difficult decisions would have to be taken by the chancellor, George Osborne, when he outlines the government’s spending review for the first year after the 2015 general election

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British soldiers protected under human rights law, supreme court told

By Sharon Black

Families challenging ruling that soldiers conducting operations outside their base are not covered by convention British soldiers have the right, enshrined in European human rights law, to expect the government to take all reasonable steps to prevent them getting killed, the supreme court heard on Monday, in a case with profound implications for military commanders and their conduct of future operations. Families of soldiers killed in Iraq by roadside bombs while travelling in vulnerable Land Rovers and by “friendly fire” when in a Challenger tank accuse the Ministry of Defence of breaching the European human rights convention by not providing adequate equipment.

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British and Irish troops to set up infantry training team in Mali

By Sharon Black

Joint operation will be the first time soldiers from the two countries have worked together since Ireland won independence British and Irish troops will be involved in a joint operation for the first time since Ireland won independence after bloody uprisings and civil war. Six Irish soldiers and 21 British will be deployed in Mali to set up an infantry training team led by troops from the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment, the Ministry of Defence announced on Monday.

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The lonely soldier and the moral scars of war | James Jeffrey

By Sharon Black

Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan find little ethical defence in the ‘just war’. Each of us struggles to make peace with our actions In trying to understand the ongoing suicide epidemic among soldiers and veterans a third factor in addition to physical injuries and PTSD is now being discussed: the moral injuries they bring back

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Letters: Blinkered view of the first world war

By Sharon Black

As a historian, I initially wondered whether your report was a Guardian April fool ( Poignant kickabout that captured futility of conflict to be replayed for WW1 centenary , 9 February). Only a specially selected bunch of conservative academics and generals would think of celebrating the military genius that organised the Somme, Passchendaele and Dardanelles campaigns

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First world war commemorations ‘will be like Titanic anniversary’ – minister

By Sharon Black

WWI centenary likely to stir old controversies as Andrew Murrison says ‘Great War will be woven into everything’ The commemorations for the first world war will involve sombre reflection, proper consideration for the millions who died, and opportunities for a new generation to explore what happened and why. But focusing the world’s attention on a conflict that was supposed to have ended all wars is unlikely to pass off without controversy, as new generations question the decisions that led to millions being slaughtered. It will also stir emotions in the countries of the former British empire