Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Ten French soldiers reportedly killed by NATO air support, not by Taliban
by Larry Geller
Who was flying the support mission that might have mistakenly killed French soldiers in Afghanistan?
The French army and ISAF in Kabul meanwhile refused to comment on a report in Le Monde newspaper quoting French soldiers who had survived the ambush saying they came under fire from NATO planes that had come to help them escape.
The soldiers also reportedly complained they had to wait for four hours before any backup was sent.
In Brussels, a NATO official said the alliance would "look into the report", while the Pentagon said it had no information that close US air support resulted in French casualties. [Sarkozy tells French troops in Afghanistan to keep fighting, AFP, 8/20/2008]
This is still under investigation. The story has been covered in several countries and by AFP, Al Jazeera and some other news services.
It’s possible that American pilots were involved, so pending the outcome of the investigation, I wonder how much coverage the report will get here.
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