Briton killed by the Taliban was working to pay for his wife's IVF

David "Taf" Addison, who was working in Afghanistan to fund his wife's IVF treatment, had been kidnapped in an ambush 12 days earlier.

U.S. troops stormed the compound where he was being held only to find the 46-year-old had died from stab wounds.

Home Office pathologist Dr Basil Purdue said: "My strong feeling is that these injuries were inflicted in haste, probably as the rescuers were arriving."

Mr Addison was two months into a year's contract for United States Protection and Investigations, a Houston- based company which protects construction workers.

His car was ambushed by a dozen men on a road being built between Kandahar and Herat in August 2005. One of his armed companions, Shyam Gurung, said the militants jumped from one of three cars and started firing at them. In a statement read to the inquest in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, the former Gurkha said: "Taf made an emergency brake as the bullets were hitting our car. I shouted 'Get out, get out'.

"I managed to get out, but I could hear they had got nearer to our car and could hear rapid bursts of firing."

Another guard was killed but the third, Rozi Mohammed, told Afghan police: "Mr Taf was holding his hands up and did not fire.

"I then started firing at the Taliban. Then they took Mr Taf away in our car and drove off."

Mr Addison, who spent 22 years in the Royal Green Jackets, lived in Warminster, Wiltshire, with wife Karen and their three-year-old daughter.

After the hearing, his father-in-law, Paul Pilkington, said the U.S. military had failed to explain the circumstances of the failed rescue attempt.

He said: "As a family we feel we should not have waited two years for an inquest into this tragedy after all my daughter has suffered. Our forces and civilians are out there helping the Americans and they are not providing the support to clear up what happened during this incident.

"David was just a normal bloke. He wanted to stay there to pay for fertility treatment for his wife."

The kidnappers managed to flee the compound minutes before the U.S. troops arrived.

British police say efforts are still being made to track the gang down.

Recording a verdict of unlawful killing, coroner David Masters said: "David Addison was kidnapped by the Taliban because he worked for a foreign company.

"He was taken to a camp some distance away in a mountainous region of Farah province.

"It appears that those who were keeping him in restrained conditions on a plateau in the mountains are those who killed him in haste."

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MoD names Iraq dead

Three RAF servicemen killed in a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this week were named today by the MoD.

Matthew Caulwell, 22, and Peter McFerran, 24, from 1 Squadron RAF Regiment, and Christopher Dunsmore, 29, of 504 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment - all Senior Aircraftsmen - died on Thursday when the Contingency

Operating Base in Basra came under fire.

The three RAF servicemen were resting from their duties protecting aircraft operating from Basra Airport, where the Contingency Operating Base is situated, when they were killed instantly by a rocket attack during the afternoon.

SAC Caulwell from Birmingham had served with 1 Squadron since 2002. Squadron Leader Jason Sutton, 1 Squadron's commanding officer, said: "Better known to the Squadron as 'Lip', he was a true character known for his outgoing, gregarious nature.

"Though he was able to find humour in even the most difficult situation, he was also a true professional and his skills as a leader had been recognised by his promotion to Acting Corporal."

SAC McFerran, from Connahs Quay in Flintshire, north Wales was the heavy machine gun operator for his unit. He had followed his father into the RAF Regiment in 2004.

Sqn Ldr Sutton added: "He was utterly dependable and as his Squadron commander I knew I could rely on him not only for the consummate skill he brought to the job but also for his honest, incisive opinion.

"His job was his life, his hobby, everything, and in Pete we have lost one of our finest."

SAC Dunsmore, an engaged man from Leicester, had been a member of 504 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment at RAF Cottesmore for four years.

A manager in a paint company, the 29-year-old was a keen snowboarder and since August last year had been attached to 1 Squadron for one year's service.

Sqn Ldr Sutton, paying tribute to SAC Dunsmore, said: "Our Auxiliary colleagues fill vital roles on the Squadron, and none more so than Chris.

"He was a highly skilled individual, and from the very start of his time with us he put 100% into everything he did and was always ready for any challenge." _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________