More friendly fire and colateral damage

[Klaus]

According to BBC US airforce attacked a convoy of US and Kurdish troops

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2921743.stm

Friendly fire' hits Kurdish convoy
Kurdish fighters and US special forces are working closely together

An American warplane has bombed a Kurdish convoy in northern Iraq which included members of US special forces.

The BBC's world affairs editor John Simpson, who was travelling with the convoy, says he counted at least 10 bodies and others wounded.

It is the latest in a series of "friendly fire" incidents involving coalition forces during the Iraq war.

A brother of Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), is reported to have been wounded in the attack.

The US military said it was investigating the incident, which happened near the town of Makhmur.

"Coalition aircraft were conducting close air support missions at the time, and were in co-ordination with ground forces," said the statement from US Central Command in Qatar.

"The circumstances contributing to the incident are under investigation."

Simpson, who suffered minor injuries in the attack, said the bomb was dropped from a US plane 10 to 12 feet (about four metres) from where he was standing.

The convoy contained between eight and 10 cars, two of which contained US special forces.

Kurdish forces, backed by the US, are advancing south from their self-ruled enclave in northern Iraq on the cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, held by Saddam Hussein's forces.

OTHER FRIENDLY FIRE' INCIDENTS
6 April: US/Kurdish convoy attacked by US jet
3 April: US soldier killed by US ground forces
3 April: US ground forces attacked by US jet, 3 killed
28 March: British vehicles attacked by US jet, 1 killed
25 March: British tank fires on another British tank, 2 killed
23 March: British jet shot down by US missile, 2 killed

 

[ALEXRUS]

Five Russian diplomats leaving Iraq were also wounded today on the way to Syrian border...

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

i've just been listening to this story on tv this afternoon and it really made me feel ill to hear the correspondents describe the scene.

 

[Klaus]

ALEXRUS: yes, german media reported today that russians found out that M-16 (US weapon) ammuntion was used to shoot at the car of the Diplomat and that US troops tried to stop the diplomats several times.
So the diplomats were sure it was no accident
Klaus

 

[Scarletwine]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=395128

Some problem this morning with Journalists. Confirmed by Centcom.

Hotel hit: A Reuters journalist died after a US tank shell today hit an upper floor of the Baghdad hotel where the international press are based. Three other Reuters journalists were injured.

Television images showed damage to a wall next to a balcony near the top of the Palestine Hotel. A US commander said a US tank had fired a single round after coming under small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire from the hotel.

Journalists at the scene were sceptical that there had been any attacks launched from it. Initial US comments included reports of the hotel being used for surveillance. Journalists responded that they had been using binoculars and zoom lenses to monitor fighting.

US troops suggested that reporters hang white sheets out the window of their rooms.

Earlier, the Al-Jazeera television network said a cameraman was killed when its Baghdad office was hit during a US bombing attack today. Tareq Ayoub died after suffering serious wounds, the network announced, describing him as a "martyr of duty".

The Arabic-language satellite network aired footage of the cameraman whose chest was covered in blood and said another member of its crew was injured.

A US official at Central Command in Qatar said: "We did not target Al-Jazeera. We are trying to establish what's been struck and whether it was us."

The Abu Dhabi TV office in Baghdad was also hit, the station reported

 

[sulawesigirl4]

 

[ALEXRUS]

ALEXRUS: yes, german media reported today that russians found out that M-16 (US weapon) ammuntion was used to shoot at the car of the Diplomat and that US troops tried to stop the diplomats several times.
So the diplomats were sure it was no accident
Klaus

Sure, they found it out: M16 bullets were extracted from their cars and bodies. US patrol was shooting not only at the cars with diplomatic plates but at the Ambassador's car which was moving under Russian flag. Ambassodor's driver was heavily wounded and operated afterwards in one of the Iraqi hospitals, he's still there... They were under fire some 40 minutes lying on the ground...

 

[nbcrusader]

Hmmm. It is amazing how quickly they completed the ballistics testing to verify that bullets found were fired from M16's......

 

[sulawesigirl4]

about as long as it takes for the reports that keep getting re-vised about the WMDs that have been found?

 

[Klaus]

nbcrusader:
afik the warshaw pact and the NATO use 2 different calibres, so it should be easy to find out if it was a US or a Russian weapon

 

[nbcrusader]

True, easy for the trained eye. The initial reports regarding the attack pointed the finger at the US. I just find it interesting how quickly someone found (not an easy task) bullets or bullet fragments (not shell casings) and give a positive ID. Bullets tend to distort once fired, which leads me to believe identification is not a casual task.

 

[hiphop]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=395128

A US official at Central Command in Qatar said: "We did not target Al-Jazeera. We are trying to establish what's been struck and whether it was us."

I thought it was all precision work. And just in that very case, it isn?t? Unbelievable.

 

[Klaus]

nbcrusader:

i just know the perspecive of the media i read and it was like that:
first: russia blaimed us AND iraq and asked both parties to respect their diplomats
second:the diplomats reached Russia and russian balistic experts took a look on the car
third: the diplomat mentioned that they tried to stop his car several times
4th: they talked with diplomats of both sides

So, not that biased as you thought

Klaus

 

[Klaus]

p.s. i knew the first news allready when
ALEXRUS made his post, i just had to wait to get some verified news.

 

[ALEXRUS]

True, easy for the trained eye. The initial reports regarding the attack pointed the finger at the US. I just find it interesting how quickly someone found (not an easy task) bullets or bullet fragments (not shell casings) and give a positive ID. Bullets tend to distort once fired, which leads me to believe identification is not a casual task.

Well, I know that words of the Russian journalists are NOTHING for the Pentagon and, consequently, for every US citizen but they saw who was shooting at them. When fire stopped the journalists who accompanied our diplomats asked the leaving US column for help but got nothing. That story was told by one of the Russian journalists who was there and arrived in Moscow yesterday. Ballistics? I don't need it. For me it's clear who was shooting. Iraqis disguised as GI, of course