Troops tell of checkpoint gun horror

The shootings at an Afghan National Police (ANP) checkpoint in Nad-e-Ali in Helmand Province on November 3 last year sent shockwaves through the Nato mission in Afghanistan.

The troops injured in the attack revealed how they feared they would be killed and pretended they were dead to escape the rampaging gunman.

Lance Corporal Liam Culverhouse, of the Grenadier Guards, said the policeman – who has been named only as Gulbuddin – shot him in both arms and legs as he tried to get away.

In an interview for a Channel 4 Cutting Edge documentary to be broadcast tonight, he said: "The guy came and checked that I was dead. I heard his footsteps and I could hear dust being kicked away from his feet.

"And then it stopped, and then it went back, so I don't know what he was doing at the time. I know he must have been checking I was dead because he stood over me.

"When I was playing dead, I was thinking he's going to shoot me again, he's going to shoot me again. But he didn't. So, I'm lucky, very lucky indeed."

The documentary shows the six soldiers wounded in the incident being flown back to Britain for treatment on board an RAF C-17 Globemaster.

L/Cpl Culverhouse said he and his colleagues picked up a "funny atmosphere" at the checkpoint before the shooting but could not have predicted what happened.

The soldier revealed that the troops were having a competition to see who could catch the most mice when the policeman opened fire.

He said: "I remember getting hit in the face with something and I remember shouting and swearing.

"I covered my face and turned around to see the back of an Afghan, one of the police officers, shooting the lads."

He added: "It just all went so fast, and then when he saw me he just basically unloaded a magazine firing at me. He only managed to hit me six times. Thank God."

Those killed in the shooting were Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, 40, Sergeant Matthew Telford, 37, and Guardsman Jimmy Major, 18, of the Grenadier Guards, and Corporal Steven Boote, 22, and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, 24, of the Royal Military Police.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killings but British military sources have suggested it is more likely that the incident was a one-off and unconnected to insurgents.

The British soldiers had been living and working at the police checkpoint as part of a 16-man team mentoring Afghan officers. On November 3 they had just returned from a patrol, and had taken off their body armour and were drinking tea with their Afghan colleagues when the policeman opened fire with an automatic weapon.

Another of the wounded British soldiers, Guardsman Steve Loader, of the Grenadier Guards, recalled the horrific scenes.

He said: "I have never, ever seen so much blood in my entire life, all over the floor, all over me, all over my legs, all over my hands.

"I don't know how we managed to get out of that situation and still manage to be here, all right, talking and walking.

"It's hard to explain, I just really do not know how we did it, someone must have been watching over us."

Fijian-born Lance Corporal Peniasi Namarua, of the Grenadier Guards, known as "Nammers", said he pretended he was dead as the policeman ran around shooting.

The soldier added: "I was the last one to get shot, it's like my fault for not getting the bloke. I feel guilty for not doing anything. You know, I should have killed him. I should have killed him that day."