Gurkha ordered back to UK after beheading dead Taliban fighter

[Hitman]

A Gurkha soldier has been flown back to the UK after hacking the head off a dead Taliban commander with his ceremonial knife to prove the dead man’s identity.
The private, from 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles, was involved in a fierce firefight with insurgents in the Babaji area of central Helmand Province when the incident took place earlier this month.
His unit had been told that they were seeking a ‘high value target,’ a Taliban commander, and that they must prove they had killed the right man.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz0u1JYWMHc

I feel sorry for the Gurkha. It says he may face jail.

He is understood to have removed the man’s head from the area, leaving the rest of his body on the battlefield.

This is considered a gross insult to the Muslims of Afghanistan, who bury the entire body of their dead even if parts have to be retrieved.

Who cares? This is a war not a parade through the streets. People die in wars, get blown up or shot, and I'm sure death is an insult to anyone. Don't forget the Taliban are willing to do whatever to kill our soldiers.



I don't see how it's any different if they blow the person into 1000 pieces and retrieve them, or chop their head off so they're in two and retrieve them...

[GommeInc]

He's dead, nothing is going to happen. It's war, there are no rules and you chuck beliefs of others aside, either because that's the reason you're at war or because there's no time. Not sure what the problem is, though it is a bit gross and medieval. Surely they have a camera phone they could use to take a picture? This isn't Sherwood Forest where Robin Hood's head needs to be retrieved to prove he's dead

[FlyingJesus]

Can't they just say they'll return the head once the identification's all sorted

[HotelUser]

The man was part of the Taliban so I'm very glad he's dead.

The Gurkha man committed a very gruesome act, though considering the very gruesome beliefs of the Taliban I think I can get over it

[Smits]

I'm pretty sure it's usually the insurgents doing the beheading.

Anyway, he was asked to prove, what better way than to do that? Hopefully he's cleared in the courts.

[Nixt]

Actually I agree that this soldier was in the wrong. He could have taken photographs of the dead body and had them verified to confirm identity. Equally he could have arranged a corpse extraction if such identification was that important.

Dismembering a corpse is an act of gross indecency and is completely unnecessary.

[Hitman]

Actually I agree that this soldier was in the wrong. He could have taken photographs of the dead body and had them verified to confirm identity. Equally he could have arranged a corpse extraction if such identification was that important.

Dismembering a corpse is an act of gross indecency and is completely unnecessary.

Hey Garion, do you know how they work? It says he was under heavy fire so if they left the body I imagine it would have been taken by the Taliban... and do they carry cameras? Maybe he should be told off, a slapped wrist, but not imprisonment!

[alexxxxx]

Hey Garion, do you know how they work? It says he was under heavy fire so if they left the body I imagine it would have been taken by the Taliban... and do they carry cameras? Maybe he should be told off, a slapped wrist, but not imprisonment!

he'll probably just get a reprimand. and i should imagine they do carry something to prove who they killed is who they needed to.

[Nixt]

Hey Garion, do you know how they work? It says he was under heavy fire so if they left the body I imagine it would have been taken by the Taliban... and do they carry cameras? Maybe he should be told off, a slapped wrist, but not imprisonment!

It is likely that one member of the troop would be carrying a camera. Indeed if an intelligence officer was attached to the regiment, which is likely in the event that they were targeting a high ranking Taliban official, they would most certainly be carrying a camera. Equally a surprisingly high amount of soldiers carry their phone and personal digital cameras on operations (although they shouldn't) to take pictures of varying aspects of their tour of duty. This includes when engaged in an operation that may involve a heavy fire fight (although they would not be snapping away at that point, of course).

It also says in that article that the killed Afghan was identified with the use of DNA evidence, cutting a bit of the hair, or even slicing off a bit of skin would have sufficed. I recognise they were in the heat of battle but removing the head of a fallen soldier, whom members of the British army are rigorously trained to respect (dead or alive) even if they are enemy combatants, is a calculated decision that requires some thought and effort... I do not believe he can say he was under that much pressure, given that he took the time to sever the individuals head from his neck.

There really were several more, sensible, options that he should have thought about before removing the head of a fallen combatant. As the article says it wasn't malicious but it was downright stupid and he should be dealt with as such. I doubt he'd be imprisoned for that long. A day in Colchester is like a year in civvy prisons, so I am told.

[Catzsy]

Hey Garion, do you know how they work? It says he was under heavy fire so if they left the body I imagine it would have been taken by the Taliban... and do they carry cameras? Maybe he should be told off, a slapped wrist, but not imprisonment!

Well I think it might take while to hack off somebodys head and I can't imagine somebody didn't have a camera. Seriously not a normal thing to do.