US F18 killed British marine

Friday, 14 November 2008 1:00 PM

A British marine killed in Afghanistan in December 2006 died because of friendly fire from a US fighter jet, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed.

Marine Jonathan Wigley, 21, was fatally wounded on December 5th 2006 when two US F18s providing combat air support "misidentified and strafed a friendly position", according to the board of inquiry report published today.

It reveals there was "no certain cause" for the misidentification but says the pilot's "over-reliance on visual cues, lack of a friendly position market in the cockpit. and the fact that the friendly force and the enemy positions looked very similar" contributed.

The fatal accident occurred as British forces, including Marine Wigley, attempted to drive the Taliban out of the town of Garmser in Helmand province.

British helicopters and American A10s were engaged in close air support in an intense battle, the BBC reported at the time.

Today's board of inquiry demands improvements to further reduce the likelihood of similar incidents occurring in the future. These include the development of a mechanism to mark friendly force positions on the ground or in the aircraft.

It states: "The friendly fire incident was a tragic accident, which occurred in a highly-charged environment where lives were at risk.

"War is a very different environment, where risks must be taken to achieve one's aims."

The board refers to a message sent to the aircraft crew after the incident when giving its opinion of the incident.

It concludes: "This was never actually sent but it was going to say that it had not been a good day at the office for any of them, but had the F18s not been there they would probably have lost far more men that day."

Tags:
• defence
,
• foreign policy
,
• middle east