Soldier Shooting Appears on Youtube

The British army is investigating how a video of one of its soldiers being shot in the buttocks in Afghanistan found its way onto Youtube.com.

The six-minute film was captured by Royal Marine Commando Jonny Hart’s helmet camera, but he had no knowledge of its posting on the popular Internet video site, the Daily Mail reported Monday.

The film, which has been viewed almost 44,300 times, shows Hart standing beside his patrol vehicle before being shot and jumping into the car and being taken to a safe location for assessment of his wound.

Footage captured by soldiers’ helmet cams is intended for use by senior officers only, causing the Ministry of Defense to try and find out how it was leaked onto the Internet.

The process of wearing helmet cameras for analysis of the action/engagements is common on operations, said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense. However, it is not usual practice to publish this type of video material without authority and we are obviously concerned that this material has reached the public domain in this manner.