Old Etonian army officer shot dead at point blank range moments after giving a gun back to Afghan 'ally' Lieutenant Edward Drummond-Baxter, 29, shot in the head at close range He had only been in Afghanistan for one month but had told his family the Taliban were trying to kill him Lance Corporal Siddhanta Kunwar, 28, also shot and killed Unnamed shooter - wearing an Afghan police uniform - approached checkpoint in Helmand Province asking for an interpreter, inquest heard Was granted access to site and disarmed - but shot the two as he exited Remains unclear whether he was a member of the police, hearing told Inquest: Lieutenant Edward Drummond-Baxter, 29, was shot dead by a man in Afghan Police uniform at a checkpoint in Helmand Province, an inquest heard A British officer who had only been in Afghanistan for a month was shot by an Afghan he believed to be an ally, an inquest heard. Eton-educated Lieutenant Edward Drummond-Baxter, 29, from County Durham, had initially disarmed the man. He returned the AK-47 to him at a checkpoint but was then shot through the head at close range. The man, wearing Afghan police uniform, then turned his weapon on another soldier, 28-year-old Lance Corporal Siddhanta Kunwar, fatally shooting him twice through the chest. Another officer in a nearby watchtower tried to return fire, but the killer managed to flee to nearby cover. He has not been traced. The two men were shot just days after Taliban leader Mullah Omar had called for his followers to infiltrate 'within the ranks of the enemy'. Mr Drummond-Baxter, who left the Foreign Office to join the Army, had told his family he feared the Taliban were trying to kill him. The two soldiers were based at Checkpoint Prrang, near Nahr-e-Saraj, in Helmand Province when the shooting took place on October 30, 2012. They were from the 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles, and were part of the gradual handover by ISAF, the international military force, to local Army and police units. The inquest heard how it is still unclear whether the gunman - aged around 19 or 20 - was a real member of the Afghan Uniformed Police. An interpreter from the base said in a statement: 'I recognised the AUP because he had been here before. An interpreter who worked here, who left 10 days before, had told the previous commander there was a member of the AUP who was suspicious. 'He looked like real AUP but was fake,' said the interpreter. His brother may have given him the uniform. Others claimed they had never seen the man before. Death: The man also shot Lance Corporal Siddhanta Kunwar, 28, twice in the chest, killing him - the hearing was told The hearing at Oxford Guildhall heard how he had turned up at the checkpoint wearing uniform before and a previous British commander at the base had raised suspicions about the man. The killer approached the checkpoint saying he wanted to speak to an interpreter. He was sent away, but returned to ask again after spending 15 minutes talking to farmers nearby. Eventually he was let in and disarmed. After being in the base for about an hour and telling Lt. Drummond-Baxter: 'You are my friend, a very good friend,' the killer then asked for some boots he claimed he had been promised. When told there were none, he asked to leave and was escorted to the gate by the interpreters and LCpl Kunwar, while the commander went to get his gun. Neither of the British soldiers was wearing body armour or helmets but both had sidearms on as they approached the gate. The interpreter said: 'The AUP was stood level with the commander and close to him. The commander handed his his weapon. I think the magazine was already fitted. He (AUP) loaded it. The commander didn't seem concerned. The mood was good, it was friendly. He had laughed. He turned his face back towards the AUP and as he did the AUP started shooting. 'It was the commander's face he was aiming at.' Both interpreters fled, with one of them shouting repeatedly: 'Shoot the AUP, shoot the AUP.' The inquest heard how Lt Drummond-Baxter had told his family the Taliban were trying to kill him - proving he was doing a good job. The officer was just a month into his first deployment to Afghanistan when he died. There had been a grenade attack three days earlier and someone had fired a shot at his patrol base's raised CCTV camera on the morning of the fatal attack. Hearing: The inquest, held at Oxford Guildhall, pictured, heard how it is still unclear whether the man was a member of Afghani police A lawyer for the officer's family also said Taliban leader Mullah Omar had said six days earlier that his followers should increase their 'efforts to expand the areas of infiltration within the ranks of the enemy.' Yet the two solder's colleagues said they were not aware of any specific 'insider threat' from their Afghan counterparts. The coroner said she had broadened the scope of the hearing to include a number of matters, including the role of the so-called "guardian angel" - a role allotted to a soldier to provide cover inside a checkpoint and to watch for any threat. Speaking outside the hearing, the family of Edward Drummond Baxter said: 'We know from many different accounts that in his role in Afghanistan Edward strived to serve alongside his platoon and the communities he was tasked to protect, with commitment, loyalty and friendship. 'We hope the lessons learned from Edward and Siddantha's deaths will be heard and applied as allied forces continue to withdraw to ensure the safety of our men and women still serving in Afghanistan.' The inquest before Oxfordshire's assistant coroner Alison Thompson continues.