[NYTr] US friendly fire kills three Brit soldiers in Afghanistan

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Channel 4 News - Snowmail (UK) - Aug 24, 2007
http://www.channel4.com


US friendly fire kills three Brit soldiers in Afghanistan

"U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) plans to team with allies in
September to examine technologies in an Advanced Concept Technology
Demonstration (ACTD) designed to reduce friendly fire and improve
combat effectiveness."

So says the military press release I have received. Well let's hope it
works. Because it all comes too late for three Royal Anglians killed by
an American bomb dropped from an F-15 in Helmand today. Two more
soldiers are injured, one seriously, the other very seriously injured.

Once more the American military's tendency to kill soldiers fighting on
their side is under the spotlight - they've killed at least eight
British soldiers in Iraq, incidentally. But this also throws attention
onto their killing of civilians in Afghanistan. 

That issue is so serious President Karzai has pleaded with the Pentagon
to get its act together.

                             ***

Bloomberg News - Aug 24, 2007
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFjtT92mfhTs&refer=home

U.K. Says Three Soldiers Killed in U.S. Air Strike (Update3)

By Patrick Donahue and Kitty Donaldson

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Three British soldiers were killed in southern
Afghanistan in an incident the U.K. said was probably caused by
``friendly fire'' from a U.S. air strike.

The Ministry of Defence in London is investigating the deaths, which
occurred yesterday northwest of Kajaki in Helmand province, the
department said in an e-mailed statement. Two U.S. F-15 fighters were
called in to repel a Taliban attack on a combat patrol at around 6:30
p.m. local time, the ministry said.

``A single bomb was dropped and it is believed the explosion killed all
three soldiers who were declared dead at the scene,'' the U.K. said,
adding two others were injured. The personnel were from the 1st
Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment.

The British soldiers were part of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization
effort to quell insurgent activity by the Taliban, which during the
summer has stepped up a guerrilla campaign aimed at foreign troops and
the government of President Hamid Karzai. The Kajaki district, where
engineers are rebuilding a dam to provide electricity, has been the
scene of many skirmishes with the Taliban.

``The United States expresses its deep condolences to the families and
loved ones of the soldiers who died, and we wish those who were injured
a speedy recovery,'' the U.S. Embassy in London said in an e-mailed
statement. The incident will be ``thoroughly investigated,'' it said,
without elaborating.

`Clear Aberrations'

Christopher Pang, a defense expert at the London-based Royal United
Services Institute, said, ``These types of incidences are clear
aberrations.

``It is imperative that the U.S. government pursues an immediate
investigation into this tragic incident,'' Pang said in a phone
interview.

NATO's mission in Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance
Force, said its troops have procedures to prevent friendly fire
incidents.

``ISAF is committed to finding out exactly how this tragedy occurred
and how similar incidents can be avoided,'' Lieutenant Colonel Claudia
Foss, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.

U.K. Defence Secretary Des Browne said in an interview with the British
Broadcasting Corp. that there will be a ``very thorough investigation''
and that the families of those involved will be kept informed.

``If there are lessons to be learned, we will learn them,'' Browne
said.``These friendly fire incidents are rare. It's very saddening, but
it is a reminder to us of the bravery and professionalism of our
soldiers, and the risks they take to keep us safe.''

Saved Lives

U.S. air support had saved the lives of British personnel on ``many
occasions,'' Browne said. ``Combat environments are very complex.
Sometimes these incidents happen just because of human error,'' he
added.

A U.K. soldier, Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, was killed in Iraq
in 2003 in a friendly fire incident involving U.S. pilots, in what a
British coroner ruled was an unlawful death.

The U.S. initially withheld permission for a classified cockpit video
recording of that incident to be used at an inquest earlier this year.
Coroner Andrew Walker, who conducted the inquiry, called the lack of
U.S. cooperation ``appalling.'' The U.S. gave permission for the
coroner and the family to see the footage after it was posted on a
newspaper Web site and widely broadcast.

The U.S. government called that case a ``tragic accident'' that took
place in a ``complex combat environment.'' Hull was killed when a
reconnaissance convoy was hit by fire from A-10 ground attack aircraft
near the southern city of Basra.