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Marine Survives Taliban Sniper Headshot By Inches During Battle In Afghanistan

Marine Survives Taliban Sniper Headshot By Inches During Battle In Afghanistan

The bullet passes through the material on the top of the soldier's helmet as he prepares to exit a building

Anonymous

Anonymous

In contention for wildest YouTube video of the decade, a sniper's bullet was filmed clipping a US marine's helmet while on operations in Afghanistan.

The solider missed a fatal injury by a very narrow margin.

Shot in 2013, the video shows the marine and two of his comrades preparing to respond to an opposing group of militants when the sniper targets them.

The marines are based in an area referred to in the video as 'the compound with all the drugs', which we can only assume is the reason the sniper is so eager to scare them off.

US forces are now preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan following a peace contract with the Taliban signed under former president Donald Trump.

But at the time of the video, US soldiers had been fighting in Afghanistan for over ten years in what has now been dubbed the 'forever war'.

Sam Arnold

The video is shot on a helmet-mounted camera and starts in an open space within a mud-walled compound.

Two of the soldiers can be seen handing a hand-held radio between each other as the crackle of gunfire can be heard all around them.

One soldier is heard saying: "They're f***in' getting' blasted on bro.

"They know we f***in' found 'em."

As the third soldier appears from the left of the screen, all three enter a dark corridor in a building on the right side.

The marine with the camera suggests they find out where the enemy gunfire is coming from.

On the other side of the building at the corridor's end, the three marines line up as they prepare to exit the building.

The leading soldier then appears to scan the environment before the sniper's bullet pops across their heads, clipping the material on the top of the second soldier's helmet.

All soldiers then leg it back down the corridor.

Sam Arnold

Once back in safety, the soldier with the camera grabs the top of his comrade's helmet to check the damage.

He says: "Dude, you got shot."

"I did get shot," his comrade responds, before removing his helmet to check for himself.

Sam Arnold

One YouTube commenter said: "Amazingly calm for literally just cheating death."

Calm, sure, but perhaps not the most rational choice to remove the clothing that saved your life only seconds before.

Another said: "The absolute definition of 'lucky'."

Lucky indeed.

Words: Clifford Mason

Featured Image Credit: Sam Arnold