A British sniper killed six enemy combatants in Afghanistan with a single shot when he hit the trigger switch of a suicide bomber, causing the device to explode.

The guy was wearing a vest. He was identified by the sniper moving down a tree line and coming up over a ditch."

The soldier, a lance corporal in the Coldstream Guards, was believed to be using an L115A3 gun -- the Armys most powerful sniper weapon. The sniper had previously killed a Taliban machine-gunner from 1,465 yards with his first shot on the tour of duty, The Daily Telegraph reports.

The incident occurred in December, but was only recently disclosed. British armed forces are decreasing their presence in Helmand province, and handing over the majority of security operations to the Afghan armed forces.