Lack of kit blamed for UK soldier's death

LONDON (Reuters) - A British soldier died after being sent into combat in Afghanistan with a lack of basic equipment, a coroner said on Friday.

Captain James Philippson of 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery was shot in the head in a gunfight with the Taliban in June 2006.

The 29-year-old from Hertfordshire was the first casualty after troops were deployed to the violent southern province of Helmand, where the Taliban remains strong.

Assistant coroner for Oxfordshire Andrew Walker said he died after an unforgivable "breach of trust between the soldiers and those who govern them".

The inquest at Oxford heard that troops had repeatedly complained about a lack of proper equipment, in particular standard night-vision kits.

Four kits had to be shared between as many as 30 men, the inquest heard.

The Taliban were armed with multiple rocket-propelled grenade launchers and other firepower, it heard.

"They (the soldiers) were defeated not by the terrorists but by the lack of basic equipment," Walker was quoted by the BBC as saying at the end of the inquest.

He said sending troops into a combat zone without basic kit was "unforgivable and inexcusable," he added.