TWO of the five soldiers shot dead in Afghanistan yesterday are from the Grimsby area.

Matthew Telford, 37, from Scartho, and James Major, 18, from Cleethorpes, were shot by a "rogue" Afghan policeman.

They and three other British soldiers - from the Grenadier Guards and the Royal Military Police - were living and working at the checkpoint as part of a team mentoring the Afghan National Police (ANP). Six more UK servicemen and two Afghan police officers were injured, one critically.

Sgt Telford, of the Grenadier Guards, was a father of two sons, aged nine and four, and married to Kerry.

He had been in Afghanistam since September 20 and joined the Army when he was 16.

His uncle William Ferrand said: "Matthew's role was training the Afghan forces. It was his job and he absolutely loved it.

"Everybody knows what a wonderful lad he was. It has devastated all of us.

"His two sons are going to be devastated and will miss their father. Whatever Kerry wants we will as a family make sure we do as much as we can to help her.

"We're a military family, but he was the first one to join at the age of 16.

"Nobody wants their family to go out there but it was what he wanted to do. That was part of his job and he knew that."

A helicopter carrying casualties arrives at a hospital in Helmand Province

The police officer opened fire at a police checkpoint before fleeing.

The five men have tonight been officially named by the Ministry of Defence. The other three were Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, of 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards and Acting Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, both of Royal Military Police.

A casualty arriving at a hospital in Helmand Province

The soldiers were drinking tea inside a military compound in Helmand province when the gunman opened fire with an AK47 during a meeting yesterday with local officials.

The soldiers are thought to have laid down their weapons and removed their helmets and body armour as proof of their trust in their hosts as they entered the building in the village of Shin Kalay.

Four were killed immediately and the fifth died of his wounds, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said this afternoon that the Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack, and may have infiltrated the Afghan police.

The gunman fled the scene on a motorbike, sparking a manhunt in the Nad-e'Ali district.

Abdul Ahad Helmandwal, head of the district council in Nad Ali said: "He first fired on the commander of the police and his deputy, then on the British soldiers."

It is believed the gunman had been with the police for two years. There is speculation today that he was a deliberate plant sent to infiltrate the force or that he had acted under pressure from insurgents.

Investigators believe he may have had an accomplice.

Army spokesman Lt Col David Wakefield stressed the attack did not come as a result of any breakdown or fight between British and Afghan forces.

He said: "The soldiers concerned were mentoring Afghan police. They were working inside and living inside an Afghan national police checkpoint.

"It would appear that an individual Afghan policeman, possibly acting with another, started firing within the checkpoint before fleeing the scene."

Casualties were evacuated to the hospital at the main British Army base, Camp Bastion. Several men were flown in by Medical Emergency Response Teams using Chinook helicopters and a US Black Hawk.

Gordon Brown described the five soldiers' deaths as a "terrible loss".

He said: "My thoughts, condolences and sympathies go to their families, loved ones and colleagues. I know that the whole country too will mourn their loss.

"They fought to make Afghanistan more secure, but above all to make Britain safer from the terrorism and extremism which continues to threaten us from the border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"I pay tribute to their courage, skill and determination. They will never be forgotten."

Tory leader David Cameron said: "I was deeply shocked to hear of the deaths of five British soldiers in a single incident in Helmand Province, and the horrific circumstances in which it appears they died.

"I pay tribute, as will the whole country, to their professionalism and their courage, and send my condolences to their families and their friends."

Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth offered his condolences to the families of the soldiers and emphasised the need for the country to show "resolve" in supporting the Afghan mission.

"I was extremely saddened to hear of the deaths of these courageous soldiers. My very

deepest condolences go out to their families, friends and colleagues as they come to terms with the loss of these outstanding men," he said.

"It continues to be a difficult year in Afghanistan for our brave people who are operating within the most challenging area of the country.

"We owe it to them to show the resolve that they exhibit every day in building security and stability in Afghanistan and protecting the UK from the threat of terrorism."

An investigation is now being carried out by the British Military Police, the ANP and the Afghan National Director of Security.

The attack comes just two days after Hamid Karzai was re-elected president after his rival pulled out of a run-off planned for this weekend.

The deaths make this the single bloodiest year for British armed forces since the Falklands War.

To view a full tribute to all five of the soldiers killed, click here.

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