British Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan "Inadequately Trained...

David Masters, the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner, asserted that four UK soldiers who were killed when their Snatch LandRover was destroyed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan were "inadequately trained" and poorly equipped when they died. He made the statement at the inquest into their deaths. Sarah Bryant, the first British woman soldier to be killed in the conflict, and three colleagues died while helping to mentor police in Helmand province when their vehicle triggered a huge improvised explosive device. Their six-day inquest heard that their special forces unit was inadequately trained, had the wrong vehicles for the terrain they were working in and were having to deal with a shortage of metal detectors used to trace bombs. Masters said he would be writing to the Ministry of Defence to try to ensure that such an incident was not repeated. He said he was concerned that the soldiers had been forced to use the lightly armoured Snatch Land Rovers, though their commanding officer had asked for a different kind of vehicle to be made available.