Taliban sniper killed two British soldiers with one shot: report

Two British Paratroopers were killed by a single shot from a Taliban sniper, an inquest heard yesterday, The Mail reported Saturday.
Close friends Private Lewis Hendry, 20, and Private Conrad Lewis, 22, died side-by-side while on foot patrol in Nad-e Ali, one of the most dangerous parts of southern Afghanistan.
The mission had been to find enemy snipers’ nests and reassure the population in a small village, but the patrol quickly came under fire.
As the pair crouched behind a wall a shot of pinpoint accuracy struck Private Hendry, of the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, in the head.
The same bullet then went on to hit Private Lewis, a reservist who served with the 4th Battalion the Parachute Regiment, in the neck.
Despite receiving immediate medical assistance, the soldiers were pronounced dead after being flown back to Camp Bastion, the British headquarters in Helmand Province.
The patrol, a mix of British and Afghan National Army troops, had left their base, Checkpoint Qudrat, early on February 9 aware that Taliban were monitoring their movements.
Only the day before, another patrol had been attacked by accurate small arms fire in the same area, the inquest in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, heard.
Sergeant Major Christopher Smith, of 3 Para, said all the troops knew the ‘main threat was a sharpshooter’.
Private Hendry, from Norwich, and Private Lewis, of Warwickshire, were at the front of the patrol acting as its ‘eyes and ears’.
But as they passed a mud-walled dwelling known as ‘Compound 31’ they became aware of activity among Afghan men and a shot rang out, striking another soldier in the leg.