British soldiers kill four Afghan civilians after vehicle refuses to stop at checkpoint

The Ministry of Defence said the vehicle approached a checkpoint in the Sangin district of Helmand Province at around 7.15am BST and was directed to stop.

When it drove on, the MoD said the soldiers first fired warning shots but were then forced to shoot at the occupants.

An MoD spokesman said there is always a risk that vehicles which fail to stop will contain explosives.

British soldiers on patrol in Afghanistan. Four civilians were killed when they failed to stop at a checkpoint

'It's regrettable that this has happened but it's very hard to make these decisions,' he added.

The three injured civilians were treated for their injuries by medical personnel at the scene and were taken to Camp Inkerman for further checks.

They were then transferred by helicopter to Camp Bastion hospital for further treatment, arriving at 9am.

Two people inside the vehicle were not injured and they took the bodies of the four dead back to their village, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

He added that the two who were not injured indicated that they believed the driver was at fault for failing to stop. The incident will be investigated.

Today's events come just days after a British Army dog handler was killed. Lance Corporal Kenneth Rowe and his dog Sasha were killed in a firefight with the Taliban on Thursday. He was due to leave the frontline just days before.

Meanwhile, one British soldier was reported to be facing manslaughter charges over the deaths of three comrades in a 'friendly fire' attack by American aircraft in the country.

The forward air controller is said to have given the wrong directions to long-range F-15 strike jets, which dropped a 500lb bomb killing the soldiers from 1 Royal Anglian Regiment.

The incident last August was the worst 'friendly fire' attack involving British forces in the country, bringing the death toll in Afghanistan to 50.