Hallo,
gerade in Military. com gefunden:
"Friendly Fire May Have Killed French
August 21, 2008
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.
The French troops quoted by Le Monde claimed that once they fell into the ambush they had to hold up for four hours for assistance. NATO aircraft finally arrived, they said, but some of the bombs missed the enemy and hit the troops.
The soldiers also told Le Monde that they also mistakenly came under fire from Afghan forces sent in to help, according to AFP.
Today, The Associated Press reports that French Foreign Minister Herve Morin says there are no signs that the men were killed by friendly fire. Morin also said reinforcement troops had been sent to the scene within about 20 minutes of the ambush.
France is to hold a national memorial ceremony for the 10 soldiers today.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Aug. 20 visited with French troops in Kabul, telling them France would continue the fight. He spoke to French troops from units who lost some of the 10 soldiers killed. It was the deadliest attack on international troops in Afghanistan since 2005.
While in Kabul he visited the military chapel where the French dead were honored before being returned home and also met with some of the French wounded. Sarkozy also told a group of about 200 his troops that France must learn lessons from the attack and change its procedures, according to a report by The Associated Press.
„We’re going to make sure that the means are put in place to ensure that this doesn’t happen again,“ he vowed."
Auch in der von mir heute morgen gelesenen Tageszeitung, Le Soir, ist die Rede von der versehentlichen Tötung der zehn französischen Fallschirmjäger. Bei dem Hinterhalt selbst soll kein einziger französischer Soldat getötet worden sein.
Gruss
Rainer