British troops inadequately protected

LONDON, March 10 (UPI) -- British troops sent to Afghanistan were inadequately trained in bomb detection and poorly protected by unsuitable vehicles, a coroner said at an inquest.

The inadequacies contributed to the deaths of three British reservists and Cpl. Sarah Bryant of the Intelligence Corps, coroner David Masters said at the close of the inquest into Bryant's death.

The three reservists and Bryant, the only British female soldier to die in Afghanistan, were killed June 17, 2008, when their Snatch Land Rover hit a roadside bomb in Helmand province.

The Snatch Land Rover, widely used by British troops, wasn't suitable for use in such dangerous terrain and the soldiers hadn't received enough training in bomb detection because of a lack of mine detectors, Masters said.

British troops have complained about the difficulty of driving light-duty Snatch Land Rovers in rugged terrain and their lack of a mounted machine gun.

British Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell vowed to respond quickly to the "serious" issues raised by Masters, The Times of London reported Wednesday.