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Same gun killed 7 UK soldiers
21/12/2007 21:23 - (SA)
London - Seven British soldiers shot dead
in Iraq this year were probably killed by the same sniper using
the same US-made weapon, a British coroner said on Friday.
The coroner, David Masters, was speaking a day after
recording a verdict of unlawful killing in the death of Rodney
Wilson, a British soldier shot by insurgents while on patrol in
the southern Iraqi city of Basra in June.
Masters said evidence given during Wilson's inquest showed
that six other British soldiers killed in the three months
before Masters were more than likely killed by the same sniper
using the same weapon.
"In terms of the markings on the fragments found, an expert
forensic scientist concluded that they were fired from the same
weapon," Masters told Reuters.
The weapon was probably an M16 or an M4 Carbine, both
high-powered US-made assault rifles, he said. Most use AK-47s
The fact that the fatal bullets were probably fired from an
American weapon is notable as the vast majority of insurgents in
Iraq use Russian-designed AK-47 rifles.
Insurgent snipers have often attacked both US and British
troops operating in Iraq, though it is not believed that a
single sniper has previously shot as many as seven soldiers,
whether British or American.
The forensic expert told the inquest that the weapon had not
killed or wounded any British troops since Wilson's death, the
coroner said.
At least 174 British troops have died in Iraq since the
March 2003 invasion.
In the same period, 3 896 US troops have
died, as have 134 servicemen from other nations fighting as part
of the US-led coalition.
- Reuters
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