An Afghan officer who shot dead two British servicemen in an argument over getting into a base in Helmand had never shown hints of extremism or links to the Taliban, his family said.
An Afghan officer who shot dead two British servicemen in an argument over getting into a base in Helmand had never shown hints of extremism or links to the Taliban, his family said.
Lt Gul Nazir had been on leave to visit his wife and two young children only a fortnight before the killings and had seemed happy and calm.
His relations said they were baffled why, on the morning of March 26, he shot two Britons on guard duty after apparently being angered because they would not let him on to the main British base in Lashkar Gah to pick up a comrade.
Nazir was killed in the ensuing fire fight. His uncle and fellow soldiers said that Nazir had been a respected officer who had never showed any enmity towards his British colleagues.
Hundreds gathered for the funeral of one of his victims, Sgt Luke Taylor of the Royal Marines, in Bournemouth yesterday (Wednesday). Sgt Taylor, 33, was killed alongside L/Cpl Michael Foley, 25, from the Adjutant General's Corps.
At least 16 foreign troops have so far been killed by Afghan personnel this year, sharply undermining trust between the allies in the approach to the handover of security by 2014. Preventing so-called "green-on-blue" killings has now become a priority for the international coalition.
Nazir's relations and soldiers who had served with him in the Afghan 215 Corps said they had no hints why he had snapped. Tasildar Shinwari, an uncle of Nazir, said: "God knows better than me what started the argument. He was happy to work with foreigners, if he wasn't why did he spend so long in the army?
"He had no links to the insurgency. He only joined the army to help his family. His father is old and senile and doesn't know what happened. He just weeps and says, 'My son went to Helmand and now they have sent me his body'."
Nazir, aged around 20, enlisted four or five years ago to escape rural poverty. He had five older sisters, but was the oldest son and was expected to support his family from Achin district, in Nangarhar.
The need for money was so great in his village of Maidanak that he, like many boys from his region, had lied about his age and enlisted at the age of 15 or 16, then married soon after.
"When they join the army, they earn some money and they get married quickly. It's a poor area," Mr Shinwari explained.
Nazir regularly sent his wages home to supplement his father's income as a sharecropper. He returned on leave every six months and fathered a son called Zabiullah and daughter called Amrina.
After completing his first three years, he re-enlisted as an officer and underwent more training in Kabul, before returning to Helmand.
Capt Esmerai, who had commanded Nazir for three years, said: "Only God knows why he did what he did. He was a good soldier and a good boy." Nazir's family learnt by telephone of his death from other soldiers from Achin serving alongside him.
Afghan officers in Helmand said soldiers who die fighting the Taliban are declared martyrs and the families receive around pounds 1,000 from Kabul as compensation and to cover funeral expenses.
The paperwork for Nazir just declared he had been "killed". His family received no money and had to rent a Toyota Corolla to bring his body back from the capital for burial.
A British investigation into the deaths will not be published until an inquest is heard.
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