Suicide bomber - 'the hardest thing'

Deborah Linton in Afghanistan

LANCE Corporal David Taberner remembers the horrific moment he witnessed a suicide bomber kill two civilians in a Kabul street.

The 27-year-old, from Orrell, Wigan, was on foot patrol in Afghanistan's capital, in 2006, when the insurgent struck.

He said: "We were in the centre of Kabul. There were 12 of us and someone was watching us. He looked like any other civilian but he had a mobile phone on him and one of the guys immediately spotted him looking suspicious. He followed us for about half an hour.

"When he detonated the bomb, we had to go back in to give first aid to civilians. We suffered no casualties but two of them died. It was the hardest thing I've seen."

LCpl Taberner, a father-of-three, has been in the forces for 10 years and serves with 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. He is currently based in Musa Qala, in Helmand. This is his second tour of Afghanistan.