Five Royal Marines charged with murder

Seven marines were arrested on Thursday, and the MoD said Royal Military Police (RMP) had arrested two more marines on suspicion of murder, one on Friday and the other yesterday, taking the total number of arrests to nine.

Four have since been released without charge, pending further inquiries.

A statement from the MoD said: “The RMP has referred the cases of the remaining five Royal Marines to the independent Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA).

“Following direction from the SPA these marines have now been charged with murder and they remain in custody pending court proceedings.”

The soldiers were arrested in connection with an incident which occurred while they were based in Helmand last year.

The incident has been described as “an engagement with an insurgent”, with no civilians involved.

Rules of engagement

The rules of engagement, largely derived from the Geneva Convention, dictate under what circumstances British troops are allowed to open fire, whether that is to prevent an attack by the enemy or in direct contact.

The arrests are thought to be the first time UK servicemen have been held on suspicion of such charges during the conflict in Afghanistan.

A Territorial Army soldier was investigated by military officials after shooting dead a suspected Taliban bomber in the Nahr-e-Saraj area of central Helmand in the summer of 2010.