The Times
Jerome Starkey in Kabul

A civilian bodyguard armed with just an assault rifle and a walkie-talkie gave his life after fighting the Taleban for more than 90 minutes when they stormed his guesthouse in Kabul in an attack which left at least a dozen people dead last week.

More than 30 UN staff had been asleep in the compound and if it had not been for Louis Maxwell’s bravery, security chiefs are convinced that the death toll would have been two or three times worse — enough to prompt an immediate and complete UN withdrawal from the country.

“Hero is an understatement,” said his friend and colleague Jamie Farrell. “What he did was above and beyond the call of duty, absolutely.”

Wounded and dangerously low on ammunition, the father of two leapt from a second-storey balcony and was seconds from safety when he heard a woman screaming. He ran back inside the burning building to help her, but it was the last time he was seen alive. (Read more)