Tragedy as soldier accidentally tosses grenade after trying to aim down iron sights

The UK’s Ministry of Defence is investigating reports that a soldier accidentally took out a hand grenade, pulled the pin and threw it whilst in an enclosed space, killing his entire squad.

In an unauthorised statement Private James O’Neil admitted inadvertently causing the deaths of his colleagues, but claimed that insufficient training prior to deployment had led to the disastrous mistake.

O’Neil’s regiment had just arrived in an Unnamed Middle Eastern Location when the deadly gaffe occurred, just minutes after completing his training.

“I was attempting to familiarise myself with my gear”, O’Neil writes on his blog. “I was practicing moving forwards, moving backwards, side-to-side… you know, the basics. I tried a few jumps and then a little bit of crawling. Everything was going quite well and I’d even managed to reload, something I always forget how to do. But then I tried aiming down my iron sights and it all went horribly wrong. Before I knew it I’d grabbed a grenade, pulled the pin and thrown it in the direction I was facing. I couldn’t believe what was happening!”

In the lengthy and emotional blog post O’Neil explains that the grenade landed at the feet of his fellow soldiers who unsuccessfully attempted to take cover.

“My colleagues tried to get away from the grenade but they kept running into each other, making escape impossible. Josh tried to use a table as cover, but he ended up crouching on the wrong side and got blown apart. I’ve never felt so embarrassed!”

This is the latest in a long line of military blunders that have cast doubt on the quality of training offered to new recruits. Only recently a field medic died after attempting to pilot a $55 million Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, for which he held no licence.

O’Neil claims that he and other young soldiers were only required to complete a rudimentary obstacle course before being sent to the front line.

“I couldn’t believe it when they told me I was ready for combat”, O’Neil writes. “I thought I would have to undertake weeks, if not months of training, but the whole induction lasted less than three minutes.”

Philip Hammond, Secretary of State for Defence, stated that the latest boob was an isolated incident and that he had full confidence in the training offered to military personnel.

The Ministry of Defence has refused to comment until its investigation has been completed.