Minister pays tribute to two soldiers shot in Afghanistan

Lance Corporal Lee Thomas Davies, 27, from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, was killed alongside Corporal Brent John McCarthy, 25, of the Royal Air Force at a patrol base in the Lashkar Gah district of Helmand province.

The servicemen had been providing security for a meeting with local officials when two people wearing Afghan police uniforms opened fire.

Yesterday, the family of Cpl McCarthy released a statement which read: “Brent was a loving, sensitive young man.

“He excelled at sport and had the whole world in front of him.

Cpl McCarthy and L/Cpl Davies were attending a meeting as part of a police advisory team at the local Afghan uniformed police headquarters at the time of the attack.

The pair came under small arms fire, during which both were fatally injured.

It is thought that two assailants were responsible for the attack.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond added his tribute.

He said: “Both servicemen were performing an invaluable role, training and mentoring Afghan police, helping to ensure that Afghanistan will never again be a place from which international terrorists can launch attacks on our society.

“Their sacrifice will not be in vain and we will never forget them.”

Cpl McCarthy was born into a service family in Hanover, Germany, before returning to the Midlands, where he grew up in Telford, Shropshire.

He joined the Royal Air Force in August 2008 and later joined the RAF Police.

He was described by family and friends as “a man of many talents and diverse interests” and was a keen football and hockey player and also played the drums.

Cpl McCarthy was embedded with the Welsh Guards as part of the police mentoring and advisory group at the time of his death.

L/Cpl Davies, from Carmarthen, Wales, passed out from Catterick Garrison in April 2010, before joining the Welsh Guards.

He was described as an “exemplary member of the Welsh Guards” and was “an extremely popular and respected member of his company and platoon”.