Female British soldier reveals why she killed in combat

One of the first British female soldiers known to have killed in combat says she had to shoot or get shot.

Chantelle Taylor was in Afghanistan serving as a sergeant in the Royal Army Medical Corps when her patrol was attacked by 20 Taliban gunmen in Helmand in July 2008.

The medic from Plymouth says one man was 50ft away and shooting AK47 bullets into the car she was travelling in.

"I had to engage him," she said. "I had to stop him. I had no choice."

It was the first time the 32-year-old had fired her standard issue SA80 assault rifle at another person.

Describing the moment when she fired the seven shots, Chantelle Taylor said: "It would never be right to claim a kill as a medic.

"But I would actually feel far worse than having not defended myself.

"It could have very much gone the other way and I may have not been here to tell the story."

Female soldiers in the British Army aren't officially allowed to fight on the front line in battle and are banned from serving in infantry units.

Chantelle Taylor says having women on the front line is a tricky subject.

"Indirect fire doesn't discriminate," she said.

"Unless you've been there and seen how the infantry work and how hard those roles are, it would be silly just to jump straight in and say women should do that too."