SIX Red Caps killed by an Iraqi mob were unprepared for the attack, an inquest heard yesterday.
Three of the soldiers were playing football when the 500-strong armed crowd stormed the police station.
The evidence was told by 16 Iraqi policemen who said they fled through toilet windows into the streets.
Despite being fired on with AK47s and seeing two Land Rovers blown up by rocket grenades, the six Royal Military Police soldiers held their fire.
One witness was told by one of the Red Caps: "Don't worry about us, find yourself a safe place."
Another at the Oxford hearing said the riot was retribution for an incident in which four Iraqis were shot and injured by Paras.
Sgt Simon Hamilton Jewell, 41, Cpl Russell Aston, 30, Cpl Paul Long, 24, Cpl Simon Miller, 21, L/Cpl Benjamin Hyde, 23, and L/Cpl Thomas Keys, 20, died in the fight at Ma-jar Al-Kabir in June 2003.
They had been training Iraqis volunteers to be policemen at the time.
The Red Caps' weapons have never been found.
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