Afghan force 'beset with problems' when rogue policeman shot British troops | World news

 

• Thursday 19 May 2011 15.33 BST

• Article history

 

The soldiers killed by an Afghan policeman: (from left) WO Darren Chant, Sgt Matthew Telford, Pvt James Major, Cpl Steven Boote and Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The commander of British troops in Helmand province has told an inquest into the deaths of five soldiers killed by a rogue Afghan policeman that the local force was beset with "endemic and deep-rooted problems" at the time.

Some of the police officers that British troops were working with were ill-disciplined, open to corruption and used drugs even while on duty, the inquest had been told.

Brigadier James Cowan, who was commander of Taskforce Helmand, said there was no obvious chain of command in the Afghan police force and it could be hard to keep track of officers because they often had "multiple identities". He said it was also "difficult" to remove the "bad eggs".

Cowan said it was still not clear why the man who carried out the shooting, known only as Gulbuddin, opened fire on the soldiers.

The Taliban claimed the shooting as a "success" but Cowan said: "Was he motivated by personal animosity or had an ideological motivation? We still don't know."

Cowan said there was deep shock and shame among Afghan leaders after the shooting and it gave the coalition "leverage" to make real improvements within the police force.

Measures such as introducing a vetting system and drugs testing were introduced. It also gave the coalition more influence in the way a new Helmand police training college operated.

Cowan said much better police officers were now being produced and believed this had helped reduce the number of losses being sustained in Afghanistan.

The Wiltshire and Swindon coroner, David Ridley, pointed out that soldiers were still being killed in Afghanistan by rogue police officers.

Cowan told the inquest in Trowbridge in Wiltshire: "I won't pretend everything is rosy. There is still much to do."

Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, 40, Sergeant Matthew Telford, 37, and Guardsman Jimmy Major, 18, all of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, died alongside Corporal Steven Boote, 22, and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, 24, from the Royal Military police on 3 November 2009.

They were sitting on steps at a checkpoint, codenamed Blue 25, in the Nad-e-Ali district of Helmand when they were killed. The men were "relaxing in the sun" at the time and not wearing body armour or carrying weapons.

The inquest has heard that Gulbuddin, who fled after killing the five men as well as injuring six other British soldiers and two Afghan police officers, was in a "strop" after being admonished for not wearing his police issue hat.

The hearing has also been told that on one occasion he was smoking cannabis while on guard duty and could not walk straight.

The inquest continues.