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‘ "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. 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. |
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UK soldiers on patrol
The United States expresses its deep condolences to the families and loved ones of the soldiers who died
