U.S. F-15 fighter jets called in to provide close air support mistakenly bombed a British patrol, killing three soldiers and seriously wounding two others in southern Afghanistan, officials said Friday.
The British unit was on patrol Thursday evening in Helmand province when it came under Taliban attack and called for support, the British Ministry of Defense said.
"During the intense engagement that ensued, close air support was called in from two U.S. F-15 aircraft to repel the enemy. One bomb was dropped and it is believed the explosion killed the three soldiers," the Ministry said.
The three dead were the first British soldiers killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan, although joint operations between U.S. and British forces in Iraq have been marred by such incidents, caused by the failure of equipment and personnel in correctly identifying allies.
Britain did not identify the soldiers, from 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment. It said an investigation was planned.
"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," said a spokesman for British troops in Helmand, Lt. Col. Charlie Mayo.
British troops have been battling militants for months in Kajaki, where repairs are taking place on a hydroelectric dam that will be able to supply electricity to nearly 2 million Afghans.
Mayo said both wounded soldiers were injured seriously.
The American embassy in London said, "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."
After an inquest into the death of British soldier Lance Cpl. Matty Hull, 25, killed in a friendly fire attack by two American pilots in Iraq in 2003, opposition legislators in Britain called for improvements in joint identification systems.
U.S. fire has mistakenly killed five Canadian soldiers – one last September during intense airstrikes on Taliban strongholds near Kandahar, and four in April 2002, when an American pilot dropped a 500-pound bomb near where the troops were apparently conducting a live-fire exercise.
Britain has about 7,000 troops in Afghanistan, most based around Helmand. The latest deaths bring to 73 the number of British personnel killed in the country since the U.S.-led invasion in November 2001.
From NPR reports and The Associated Press
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