A coroner burst into tears after hearing how a Special Forces officer was shot dead during a botched raid on a Taliban compound. He said that Captain Richard Holloway’s parents should be proud of their son who ‘died with a rifle in his hand doing a job that he loved and protecting freedom’. An inquest into the officer’s death two days before Christmas Day last year heard dramatic details about the night-time ambush of the Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan. The Special Boat Service solider was hit by two Kalashnikov bullets fired by a waiting enemy soldier as the elite team approached the compound.
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Captain Richard Holloway, 29, died two days before Christmas last year
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He was killed in night-time ambush of Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan
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Coroner Andrew Tweddle wept as he recalled death of his own son
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He said Captain Holloway's parents should be proud of their son who 'died with a rifle in his hand doing a job that he loved and protecting freedom’
The disastrous raid, in which the team was reportedly targeting a @placeholder commander, has previously been described as an ‘embarrassing failure’.