ONE bullet. Six dead insurgents in Afghanistan.

A British sniper firing from 850 metres away has amazingly hit the trigger switch of a suicide bomber’s vest, killing both the attacker and five others in the ensuing blast, UK newspaper The Telegraph reported.

News_Image_File: A British sniper on patrol in Afghanistan.

The 20-year-old unnamed soldier, a Lance Corporal in the Coldstream Guards, has been credited with stopping a potentially devastating attack by the Taliban.

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British forces in Kakaran in southern Afghanistan later found a second suicide vest packed with 20kgs of explosives nearby.

“The guy was wearing a vest. He was identified by the sniper moving down a tree line and coming up over a ditch,” said Lt Col Richard Slack. “He had a shawl on. It rose up and the sniper saw he had a machinegun.

“They were in contact and he was moving to a firing position. The sniper engaged him and the guy exploded. There was a pause on the radio and the sniper said, ‘I think I’ve just shot a suicide bomber’. The rest of them were killed in the blast.”

The astounding feat of marksmanship happened in December but has only just been disclosed.

News_Image_File: Deadly shot ... a team of sniper and spotter in Helmand Province.

The sniper, who was using the British Army’s most powerful sniper weapon the L115A3 gun, had previously managed to kill a Taliban machine-gunner from 1,340 metres away with his first shot on the tour of duty.

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The astounding incident has been revealed as British forces gradually decrease their presence in Helmand province, handing over security to the Afghan armed forces.

News_Rich_Media: Following an attack by Taliban gunmen on a luxury hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, security sources say four assailants were killed. Gavino Garay reports.