Gurkha sent back to UK after beheading dead Taliban fighter

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
2 Oct 2006
Messages
6,654
Reaction score
290
Country
United Kingdom
I'm interested in your views on the highlighted section below...

Gurkha ordered back to UK after beheading dead Taliban fighter

A Gurkha soldier has been flown back to the UK after hacking the head off a dead Taliban commander with his ceremonial knife to prove the dead man’s identity.

The private, from 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles, was involved in a fierce firefight with insurgents in the Babaji area of central Helmand Province when the incident took place earlier this month.

His unit had been told that they were seeking a ‘high value target,’ a Taliban commander, and that they must prove they had killed the right man.

The Gurkhas had intended to remove the Taliban leader’s body from the battlefield for identification purposes.

But they came under heavy fire as their tried to do so. Military sources said that in the heat of battle, the Gurkha took out his curved kukri knife and beheaded the dead insurgent.

He is understood to have removed the man’s head from the area, leaving the rest of his body on the battlefield.

This is considered a gross insult to the Muslims of Afghanistan, who bury the entire body of their dead even if parts have to be retrieved.


British soldiers often return missing body parts once a battle has ended so the dead can be buried in one piece.

A source said: ‘Removing the head in this way was totally inappropriate.’

Army sources said that the soldier, who is in his early 20s, initially told investigators that he unsheathed his kukri – the symbolic weapon of the Gurkhas – after running out of ammunition.

But later the Taliban fighter was mutilated so his identity could be verified through DNA tests.

The source said: ‘The soldier has been removed from duty and flown home. There is no sense of glory involved here, more a sense of shame. He should not have done what he did.’

The incident, which is being investigated by senior commanders, is hugely embarrassing to the British Army, which is trying to build bridges with local Afghan communities who have spent decades under ­Taliban rule.

It comes just days after a rogue Afghan soldier murdered three British troops from the same Gurkha regiment.

If the Gurkha being investigated by the Army is found guilty of beheading the dead enemy soldier, he will have contravened the Geneva Conventions which dictate the rules of war. Soldiers are banned from demeaning their enemies.

The Gurkha now faces disciplinary action and a possible court martial. If found guilty, he could be jailed.

He is now confined to barracks at the Shorncliffe garrison, near Folkestone, Kent.

The incident happened as the Gurkha troop was advancing towards a hostile area before engaging the enemy in battle.

Colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said: ‘In this case, it appears that the ­soldier was not acting maliciously, but his actions were clearly ill-judged.

‘The Gurkhas are a very fine regiment with a proud tradition of service in the British forces and have fought very bravely in Afghanistan.

'I have no doubt that this behaviour would be as strongly condemned by the other members of that regiment, as it would by all soldiers in the British forces.’

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘We are aware of an incident and have informed the Afghan authorities. An inves-t­igation is underway and it would not be appropriate to comment further until this is concluded.’

The Ministry also revealed yesterday that four British servicemen had been killed in Afghanistan in 24 hours.

An airman from the RAF Regiment died in a road accident near Camp Bastion in Helmand and a marine from 40 Commando Royal Marines was killed in an explosion in Sangin on Friday.

A Royal Dragoon Guard died in a blast in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand Province yesterday. The fourth serviceman also died in an explosion.

The British death toll in the Afghan campaign since 2001 is now 322.

Afghan troops trained by the British Army recently led a major operation into a Taliban stronghold.

It was one of the first operations organised by the Afghan National Army.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-Taliban-fighter.html?ITO=1708&referrer=yahoo
 
Sponsored Links
The taliban supported al queda cells as well as insurgents in Iraq. Thus two words spring to mind:

Ken Bigley
 
Does anyone take what they read in the DM at face value?
 
Sponsored Links
The highlighted parts should also be taken in context with the rest of the article,where the soldier in question is under arrest and facing a court martial.Out of interest was Ken Bigleys head returned with his body for burial.
 
And while we're on the subject of the Islamic religion in the context of what is and is not "acceptable"', the Prophet Muhammad said: "Every intoxicant is khamr, and every khamr is haram" .

Curous that the opiate producers within Afghanistan who help finance the Taliban seem to have overlooked this tiny little comment made by their religious icon.
 
But which one does,they all print their own version of what they think is right.
Indeed they do...but the broadsheets do attempt to investigate a tiny bit before they print!
 
Mean while, back at the OP....
I've answered it - all fair in love and war. If you can't stand the heat etc. If you can't take it, don't give it. etc etc etc

Gurkha did his job, and shouldn't be reprimanded in any way, shape nor form based on a religious insult argument.
 
It really comes to something in this day and age when soldiers have to respect the religion of the enemy (beheading is considered bad form in Islam). Perhaps this Gurkha should have taken a photo with his mobile phone to confirm the identity of the combatant.
Strange that Muslims should feel insulted and offended by this act, considering that they have done this with western hostages??
 
It really comes to something in this day and age when soldiers have to respect the religion of the enemy (beheading is considered bad form in Islam). Perhaps this Gurkha should have taken a photo with his mobile phone to confirm the identity of the combatant.
Strange that Muslims should feel insulted and offended by this act, considering that they have done this with western hostages??
Exactly.
Personally I don't give a t*ss whether they're offended or not. I'm pretty damn offended by them killing our soldiers day in, day out and, no doubt, the recent slaughter of 3 soldiers by a renegade Afghan policeman affected the Gurkha's thinking.
Although that said, he could've just cut off some of his hair for DNA purposes so I doubt he'll get away with it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Sponsored Links
Back
Top