Friday, August 24, 2007



'Friendly fire' kills UK soldiers

Seventy-three UK troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001

Three British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan by so-called friendly fire from American fighter planes, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
The MoD said the soldiers, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, were killed at around 1830 local time (1500 BST) on Thursday.
It is understood they died when the planes dropped a bomb near their patrol in Helmand province.
Two other soldiers were also injured. Next of kin have been informed.
The fighter planes had been called in to give air support to ground troops, the Ministry of Defence said.
Defence Secretary Des Browne said he was "very saddened" by the death of "three brave men who were tragically killed in what is believed to be a friendly fire incident".
He said such incidents were "rare" and it would be thoroughly investigated.
'Very seriously injured'
The United States expresses its deep condolences to the families and loved ones of the soldiers who died
US Embassy statement
No easy fix for 'friendly fire'
"We will look at this incident very carefully and make sure the families, who are uppermost in our thoughts, know exactly what happened to their loved ones," he said.
He added that US air support was very important and had often helped get British troops out of dangerous situations.
"We go to extraordinary lengths to ensure these things don't happen but at the end of the day combat environments are very complex environments. Human error is always a possibility," he said.
The US Embassy in London said in a statement: "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 MoD said all of the soldiers had been taking part in a fighting patrol to disrupt Taleban activity to the north west of Kajaki, in Helmand province.
They came under attack from Taleban insurgents and during the firefight that followed, close air support was called in from two US F15 aircraft, according to the MoD.

Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Mayo, a spokesman for British troops in Helmand province told BBC Radio 4's The World at One: "During this patrol they came into contact with some Taleban from a number of firing positions.
"As they came under fire they then called in some close air support to assist them and an aircraft came in, it dropped a bomb and tragically this bomb killed three of the soldiers and injured two more."
The three soldiers were declared dead at the scene. The injured two were evacuated by helicopter to the medical facility at Camp Bastion.
Lt Col Mayo said one of the two was very seriously wounded and the other seriously wounded.
BBC Kabul correspondent Alastair Leithead said this was the second case of British service personnel being killed in a friendly fire incident involving American military personnel in Afghanistan.
Royal Anglian fatalities
An inquiry was launched into the death of marine Jonathan Wigley, 21, after he was killed during an intense battle in Helmand province in December 2006.
In February, Mr Browne told MPs that since 1990, 12 UK service personnel had been killed in friendly fire incidents involving American military personnel in Iraq.
The three deaths on Thursday mean the total number of UK troops killed while on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 has risen to 73. Fifty have been killed in action.
The Royal Anglians, which have been based at Pirbright in Surrey for about five years, have been one of the regiments hardest hit by the fighting in Afghanistan.
There has now been a total of nine soldiers killed from the regiment. It is one of the worst casualty rates since Operation Herrick, the campaign in Afghanistan, began in 2001.
On 11 August the regiment's Captain David Hicks was killed during an attack by the Taleban on his patrol base northeast of Sangin in Helmand province.
The regimental headquarters of the Royal Anglians is in Bury St Edmunds. The regiment recruits mainly from the counties of Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6962071.stm

9 comments:

pete r said...

It's the Argylls on Hill 282 in Korea all over again...

NorthWestNationalists said...

I was never attached to US forces except in exercises and cross Army benefits in Germany.

I know some who really do not want to be near US forces when in combat roles.

We have two soldiers in Rochdale who were killed in 'Desert storm' and recent stuff in Iraq.

Both were killed by US 'so called friendly fire' incidents.

The 'enemy' never killed any Rochdale troops.

Anonymous said...

Errrm, what is friendly fire, is it a bullet that smiles at you before blowing your brain out?

Kind regards

Sharon Ebanks

NorthWestNationalists said...

I was discussing this issue tonight with my Dad, who is a D-Day veteran. he is also a veteran of many electiosn standing for the NF in the 70's and early 80's.

He said the yanks kill each other more than they kill us or the enemy, and he cited the now not top secret Slapton sands incident in WW2.

The Allies were preparing for D-Day from quite early 1944. My Dad was also one of those mugs doing beach assaults down the South West of England.

he heard about Slapton sands even then.

The yanks killed over 20+ of their own in training for D-Day but it was all suppressed, as were the race riots in East Anglia around Ipswich, were niggers had raped a white woman and the locals did not like it.

Race riots ensued but Churchill put a D notice on it.

NorthWestNationalists said...

Just looked at the figures for Slapton sands, and over 1,000 + yanks were killed by their own !

pete r said...

IIRC Leslie Thomas published a fictionalised version of the Slapton sands business some years ago

NorthWestNationalists said...

Even ARRSE the ex-forces website is having to cool the anger against the yanks here.

http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewforum/f=3.html

Anonymous said...

When the Germans fire the British duck. When the British fire the Germans duck, but when the Yanks fire every f*cker ducks"

Anonymous said...

Pull our troops out of these crazy zionist wars. They have nothing to do with Britains defence or interests - apart from Tony Blairs interests. He could send his own kids if he is so passionate about these wars.