Servicewoman killed in Afghanistan

Captain Lisa Head, 29, killed clearing IEDs in Helmand, becoming second British servicewoman killed in Afghanistan A woman serving with the British army’s bomb disposal team in Afghanistan has died of injuries sustained on duty in Helmand province, the Ministry of Defence has announced. Captain Lisa Head, 29, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, is the second British servicewoman to have been killed during the 10-year conflict in Afghanistan. She had been there less than a month when she was fatally injured, having volunteered to become a specialist in the clearance of IEDs (improvised explosive devices). Defence officials said she had been severely wounded on Monday while attempting to defuse a complex set of hidden devices during a clearance operation in Helmand’s Nahr-e Saraj district. She had already defused one IED, which had been found by soldiers from the Parachute Regiment in an alleyway used by Afghan and coalition troops. “After rendering safe the identified IED, Captain Head was fatally injured while dealing with a second IED,” the MoD said. She was airlifted by helicopter to a military hospital at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand, then evacuated to the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, where she died of her injuries on Tuesday. Her family issued a statement, saying they were extremely proud of what she had achieved: “Lisa always said that she had the best job in the world and she loved every second of it. Lisa had two families – us and the army. Lisa had a fantastic life and lived it to the full. No one was more loved.” Her commander in the Royal Logistics Corps, Lieutenant Colonel Adam McRae, said: “She took particular pride in achieving the coveted ‘high threat’ status which set her at the pinnacle of her trade. Lisa deployed to Afghanistan with the full knowledge of the threats she would face. “These dangers did not faze her as she was a self-assured, highly effective operator and a well-liked leader. Her potential was considerable and she will be an enormous loss to us all.” Lieutenant Colonel Mark Budden, in charge of the counter-IED task force, said the team had been “rocked” by her death. “My heartfelt condolences go out to Lisa’s parents, her sister, family and friends.” Two other female soldiers, Lance Corporal Sarah Drury and Lance Corporal Alexis Wort, issued a statement saying: “We are both privileged to have met Lisa on deployment to Afghanistan on 26 March. Having never served together before, ‘us girls’ were accommodated together in the same tent. Lisa was our senior and mentor.” A graduate from Huddersfield University, Capt Head went to Sandhurst in 2005 and then on duty with the Royal Logistics Corps. She deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007 as an air transport liaison officer before being selected to train as a bomb disposal expert. The pressure experienced by the IED specialists was underlined earlier this year at the inquest of Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, who was posthumously awarded the George Cross after he was killed attempting to defuse a device on 31 October 31 2009. He had defused 64 devices during his tour of duty, and was on his last patrol before heading back to the UK going on leave. The army insists that since Schmid’s death, the number of specialists has increased, and ministers approved an extra £67m for additional counter-IED equipment last year. The first British servicewoman to die on duty in Afghanistan was Sarah Bryant, 26, a military intelligence soldier killed by a roadside bomb near Lashkar Gah together with three special forces reservists in 2008. They were on a joint British-Afghan counter-insurgency mission 10 miles north-east of Lashkar Gah, in Helmand province, when the blast hit their open-topped Land Rover. There have been 364 British military deaths in operations in Afghanistan since 2001; 44 died from illness or accidents. There are 44 service personnel who have died from accidents, illness, or non-combat injuries. Afghanistan Military Nick Hopkins guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 20, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.