A British Army sniper in Afghanistan has found a place in military history by shooting dead two Taliban guerrillas who were over two-and-a-half kilometers away.
Corporal Craig Harrison killed the two insurgents, who were armed with a machine gun, with consecutive bullets that were fired nearly 3,200 feet beyond the official range of his rifle. His kills beat the previous record held by a Canadian soldier by 150 feet. Harrison was so far away that the bullets took almost three seconds to reach their target. The sniper fired at the Taliban guerrillas after his commander and Afghan soldiers were attacked during a patrol in Helmand in November last year. His vehicle was further back on a ridge, with his sights trained on a Taliban compound.
"We saw two insurgents running through its courtyard. They came forward carrying a machine gun and opened fire on the commander's wagon. Conditions were perfect, no wind, mild weather, clear visibility. The first round hit a machine gunner in the stomach. He went straight down and didn't move. The second insurgent grabbed the weapon and my second shot hit him in the side," Harrison was quoted as saying.
Corporal Harrison, a married father-of-one from Gloucestershire, killed 12 more rebels and wounded seven others. During an extraordinary six-month tour of duty he also survived a bullet that went though his helmet and a roadside bomb. The blast broke both his arms but he was eventually able to return to duty, his accuracy unaffected.
