A Territorial Army soldier from Caerphilly is under investigation for murder after shooting dead a suspected Taliban bomber in Afghanistan
Fusilier Duane Knott, 26, who is a bus driver in civilian life, said he killed the man thinking he was laying explosives. Senior officers now believe the man may have been an innocent farmer.
The Ministry of Defence has completed its 18-month-long inquiry into the summer 2010 shooting whichhappened in the Nahr-e-Seraj area of central Helmand. It passed its findings to the independent Service Prosecution Authority.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Fusilier Knott, who could now face a court martial, defended his actions.
He told the paper: “I know for a fact what I did was right. I don’t have regrets. I’d expect anybody to do the same – especially a soldier.”
On the day of the shooting, the soldier, who is still a member of the 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh was undertaking sentry duty inside a fortified patrol base.
The soldier said he was ordered to watch an Afghan digging in a field 400 metres away. He saw him disappear into a bush and return with an object he believed to be an IED.
Fusilier said he tried to radio for permission to open fire but was unable to get through and took the decision himself, shooting the man six times.
According to The Sunday Telegraph, investigators later found no evidence that the civilian was attempting to plant a bomb.