Friendly Fire May Have Killed French

[unhappycamper]

Friendly Fire May Have Killed French
August 21, 2008
Military.com

NATO is looking into a report that at least some of the 10 French paratroopers killed in Afghanistan on Aug. 18 died not at the hands of Taliban fighters but from NATO friendly fire.

The French foreign minister says there is nothing to the claim, but the newspaper Le Monde quoted survivors of the fighting as saying they were hit by NATO aircraft bombs after the Taliban ambush on their unit.

Asked about the story by Agence France Presse, a NATO official told the news service he had "nothing substantive to confirm or deny this particular suggestion."

AFP did not identify the official.

According to NATO's Aug. 19 statement on the attack, the insurgents killed 10 French soldiers and wounded 21 others in the attack outside Kabul.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/friendly-fire-may-have-killed-french.html