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'Miscommunication' caused deadly airstrike
KABUL, Afghanistan, (UPI) -- An airstrike that killed six Afghan soldiers last week was the result of "miscommunication" between Afghan and NATO-led forces, officials said.
A joint assessment team of Afghan and International Security Assistance Force members established that the friendly fire incident, which wounded a seventh Afghan soldier, occurred because an Afghan patrol's location was misidentified to ISAF elements. An ISAF helicopter spotted the Afghan patrol digging at a roadside location that was the frequent target of bomb attacks and asked the ISAF command center if there were friendly forces present. The command center then cleared the helicopter patrol to engage in an airstrike on the group.
"This accident is tragic, and our heartfelt condolences go out to all those who lost loved ones," Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz, a German army officer and ISAF spokesman, said in an ISAF news release. "We work very hard to ensure our operations are coordinated and synchronized. No one wants this to happen again. Together with our Afghan partners, we are working to improve our procedures."
KABUL, Afghanistan, (UPI) -- An airstrike that killed six Afghan soldiers last week was the result of "miscommunication" between Afghan and NATO-led forces, officials said.
A joint assessment team of Afghan and International Security Assistance Force members established that the friendly fire incident, which wounded a seventh Afghan soldier, occurred because an Afghan patrol's location was misidentified to ISAF elements. An ISAF helicopter spotted the Afghan patrol digging at a roadside location that was the frequent target of bomb attacks and asked the ISAF command center if there were friendly forces present. The command center then cleared the helicopter patrol to engage in an airstrike on the group.
"This accident is tragic, and our heartfelt condolences go out to all those who lost loved ones," Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz, a German army officer and ISAF spokesman, said in an ISAF news release. "We work very hard to ensure our operations are coordinated and synchronized. No one wants this to happen again. Together with our Afghan partners, we are working to improve our procedures."