England, March 18: A British soldier has been shot dead in Afghanistan’s Sangin province by a NATO-issued weapon used by British forces.
Rifleman Carlo Apolis was shot by a NATO-issued gun while providing cover for engineers in Sangin that were defusing improvised explosive devices.
Capt. Philip Floyd, from the Army’s Special Investigation Branch, said it was possible that rebels reached British and US weapons and used them. “I am of the opinion that it was not friendly fire,” Floyd said, adding, “Without going into details, there have been occasions of weapons, and a weapon of this nature, being recovered.”
The Coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon David Ridley said he was “satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the shot that killed Carlo was fired by an insurgent”.
A member of the Three Rifles Battle Group, Apolis originally came from South Africa and immigrated to the UK in 2004.
—-Agencies