Soldiers who used picture of Corbyn for target practice could be sacked from Army
FOUR paratroopers who used an image of Jeremy Corbyn’s face for target practice could be thrown out of the Army amid claims that their actions were in retaliation for his support of the Bloody Sunday prosecutions.
Footage shared widely on social media showed soldiers firing wax bullets at a large image of Mr Corbyn while on an operation in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The video shows them taking aim and firing their weapons. The camera then focuses on the target and zooms in on an image of the Labour leader. Marks can be seen peppered across Mr Corbyn’s face, while a caption reads “Happy with that”.
Labour MPS reacted with fury to the footage and Theresa May’s official spokesman condemned the soldiers’ behaviour as “clearly unacceptable”. Mr Corbyn said he was “shocked”.
A senior defence source said last night that the paratroopers would face “severe” disciplinary action and could even be dismissed for bringing the Army into disrepute.
However, veterans’ charities defended the men and suggested there was a “justified anger” at Mr Corbyn among members of the Parachute Regiment. The Labour leader has previously been criticised for refusing to directly condemn the IRA and recently backed the prosecution of a former soldier from 1 Para for his actions on Bloody Sunday in 1972.
Trevor Coult MC, the founder of the charity For Our Veterans, said he “felt sorry” for the soldiers.
“They are under extreme pressure and they’ve found a stupid way to blow off some steam,” he said. “Is it any wonder that they are using a picture of Corbyn, after his comments on Bloody Sunday last month? The feeling among the troops, I’m afraid, is that this man despises the Parachute Regiment.”
The four soldiers belong to 3 Para, a battalion that was regularly deployed to Northern Ireland during the Troubles and fought with distinction in the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The men were sent to Kabul late last year to act as so-called “guardian angels”, providing close protection for senior members of Nato and the Afghan government. Their tour was nearly over, it is understood.
A source confirmed that the video was recorded in the past few days at a firing range at New Kabul Compound base. The men were using a non-lethal hardened wax substance. The picture of Mr Corbyn is understood to be one of many well-known people used there, including Theresa May, Nigel Farage and Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president. The usual challenge, however, is to avoid shooting the VIPS.
The footage emerged on Snapchat on Monday before a serving member of the Royal Navy posted it on Twitter.
Yesterday, Brig Nick Perry, the commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said: “The video shows completely unacceptable behaviour and a serious error of judgment that falls far below the behaviour we expect of our soldiers in the brigade. Let me be clear. The Army is and always will be a totally apolitical organisation.”
It comes after an incident last October, when the Army was forced to respond to another controversy after Tommy Robinson, the far-right activist, posted a photograph of himself surrounded by grinning soldiers.