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Subject: Americns kill three British soldiers in Afghanistan
AdamB    8/24/2007 12:08:00 PM
US jet kills three British soldiers in 'friendly fire' blunder in Afghanistan 24th August 2007 Three British soldiers were killed by a bomb dropped on their position by a US war plane during fierce fighting in Afghanistan, it was confirmed today. At least two other men from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment were injured in the friendly fire incident. One of these was described as critically ill. The 60-strong foot patrol had called in air support after they came under intense attack from Taliban insurgents in Helmand province yesterday evening. The MoD said the men were killed by a "single bomb" dropped from one of two US F15 aircraft called to help repel the enemy. A statement said: "Their patrol was attacked and during the intense engagement that ensued, close air support was called in from two US F15 aircraft. The real 'Saving Private Ryan': US soldier heads home after both brothers are killed in Iraq "A single bomb was dropped and it is believed the explosion killed all three soldiers who were declared dead at the scene." The injured soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to the medical facility at Camp Bastion, the UK headquarters, for treatment. The next of kin have been informed, the MoD said, adding the incident was one of "profound sadness." Officials said an investigation is now under way. A spokesman for British troops in Helmand Province, Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Mayo, told the BBC that of the two wounded soldiers, one was very seriously injured and the other was seriously injured. He told Radio 4's The World at One: "During this patrol they came into contact with some Taliban 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 two injured soldiers were evacuated to Camp Bastion. He added: "One of them is seriously injured and the other one is very seriously injured. "The circumstances of what actually happened, we are now investigating. There are a handful of different reasons why this tragic incident has happened and we are not in a position at the moment and I don't think we will be for some time to find out exactly what has happened." The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the Nato-led mission in Afghanistan, said it had procedures in place to minimise the risk of friendly fire incidents. ISAF spokeswoman Lt Col Claudia Foss said: "ISAF feels deep sadness over the death of three soldiers killed in what is probably a friendly fire incident in southern Afghanistan. "ISAF is committed to finding out exactly how this tragedy occurred and how similar incidents can be avoided." 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 UK soldiers were serving under the Nato-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), which is helping the Afghan people to build a peaceful, prosperous, and stable country." The deaths take the toll of all British dead in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001 to 73. There have been 11 deaths in the last two months during increasingly heavy fighting. 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. In March 2003 Lance Corporal Matty Hull was killed and three other British soldiers injured when a US plane fired on them by mistake despite their vehicles being clearly marked. Yesterday's "fighting patrol" was intended to disrupt Taliban activity and reassure local residents north west of Kajaki in Helmund, they called for air support. A bomb was dropped and unfortunately three of our guys were killed," said a source. The MoD said: "It was an airstrike which British soldiers called in and what went wrong will be subject to an investigation." A spokesman said that there well- rehearsed systems between the allies to try to prevent friendly fire incidents. "There's a raft of mechanism in place to try to prevent these things. But these are daily occurances and these air strikes have saved the lives of countless British soldiers. In combat nothing is 100 per cent fool proof," he said. The troops were part of an operation to secure the Kajaki damn - described by the military as one of the most strategically important sights in Southern Afghanistan. British forces and engineers are trying to repair the hydroelectric damn so it can provide power for the Helmand province. "Our troops have been wor
 
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Panther    EU Referendum website, the calm admist the storm   8/26/2007 3:39:47 PM
The EU Referendum is all over this developing story (G*d... I really love this website). The most recent posts working down to their earlier posting on this tragic story:
 
 
 
 
Here is a chilling possibility as noted by them, in reference too an incident that cost 3 Americans lives plus the lives of 25 Afghan fighters in 2001, as written too them by an American colleague of theirs:
 

"It is, of course, GPS-guided bombs which are used for close air support in Afghanistan, their laser-guided counterparts being less useful in the dust and smoke of an infantry battle, where it can often be impossible to get a laser lock.
Thus, the 2001 incident does raise the devastating possibility that the soldiers who were tragically killed in the recent "friendly fire" incident – or their forward air controller who relayed the GPS co-ordinates to the attacking aircraft – were authors of their own fate."

Further in a differnet post:
 
 
 
From a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm officer they add this:
 

"This certainly doesn't sound like a case of blundering pilots attacking for no good reason. Close Air Support in Afghanistan has been immensely difficult at times. It's dreadful that this has happened but don't forget a lot of Coalition lives have been saved through similar missions. The Taliban have learned that if they can get close enough to our troops it makes it very hard for pilots overhead to target them."
 
 
Who goes on further by adding:
 

"I've known of cases where our forward air controllers on the ground have told pilots to drop almost on top of their own position, and then had to hunker down and pray that the blast kills the enemy and not them."
 
 
And from their first post on the subject:
 
 
 
 
With the more observant paragraphs here:
 

"Firstly, although there is an RAF presence in Afghanistan, by far the overwhelming preponderance of firepower is provided by the USAF and US Navy. Therefore, on the basis that they supply most of the support, statistically, it is more likely that their aircraft will be most frequently involved in "friendly fire" incidents.


Secondly, whichever way you look at it, close air support, as it is called, (often abbreviated to CAS) is inherently dangerous.


As in this case, you are asking aircraft to intervene at short notice in a free-flowing firefight, where troop positions are not always clearly defined and where the ground situation can be highly fluid. Under such circumstances, tragic mistakes are inevitable and the rationale is that, on balance, air power saves far more friendly lives than it destroys."
 
 
More information is certainly too come regarding this tragedy. But, bare in mind... for every incident of freindly fire that is constantly reported to an extent of extreme levels of saturation, there are atleast more than several dozen, if not hundreds more of successful CAS in between that doesn't get reported.
 
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