Five US soldiers who are Special Operations Forces were killed in a possible friendly fire incident in southern Afghanistan on Monday, Defense Department officials say. A senior US defense official told Fox News early Tuesday that the troops were killed when they requested air support from a B-1 bomber after coming in contact with enemy forces.
Earlier Tuesday, a statement from NATO confirmed the soldiers' deaths, but did not give further details on their nationalities. Coalition policy is for home countries to identify their military dead.
"The casualties occurred during a security operation when their unit came into contact with enemy forces," the statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force read. "Tragically, there is the possibility that fratricide may have been involved. The incident is under investigation. Our thoughts are with the families of those killed during this difficult time."
If confirmed, it would be one of the most serious cases involving coalition on coalition friendly fire during the nearly 14-year Afghan war. One of the worst came in April 2002 when four Canadian soldiers were killed when an American F-16 dropped a bomb on them near a night firing exercise in the southern Kandahar province.
A senior police official in southern Zabul province said the coalition soldiers may have been killed when they called in for close air support.
Provincial police chief Gen. Ghulam Sakhi Rooghlawanay said Afghan and NATO troops conducting a joint operation in the area's Arghandab district early Monday came under fire by the Taliban.
"After the operation was over on the way back, the joint forces came under the attack of insurgents, then foreign forces called for an air support. Unfortunately five NATO soldiers and one Afghan army officer were killed mistakenly by NATO air strike," Rooghlawanay said.
There was no way to independently confirm Rooghlawanay comments. The coalition would not comment and NATO headquarters in Brussels also deferred comment.
Casualties have been falling in the U.S.-led military coalition as its forces pull back to allow the Afghan army and police to fight the Taliban insurgency. All combat troops are scheduled to be withdrawn from the country by the end of this year.
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