Predator drone attack may have killed US troops in Afghanistan
April 13th, 2011 - 1:54 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Apr.13 (ANI): The US military is investigating whether a missile fired by a US drone killed two American service members last week in Afghanistan.
The investigation is looking into the deaths of a Marine and a Navy medic killed by a Hellfire missile fired from a Predator after they were mistaken for insurgents in southern Afghanistan last week, claim two senior US defence officials.
Unmanned aircraft have proven to be powerful weapons in Afghanistan and Iraq. Some drones are used for surveillance and some, such as the drone in this case, are armed and have been used to hunt and kill militants, Fox News reports.
Officials claim this was the first incident that they know of in which a drone may have been involved in a friendly fire incident in which US troops were killed, and that investigations were on to determine what had happened. (ANI)
- Computer virus hits US drone station - Oct 08, 2011
- US unveils new helicopter surveillance drone - Dec 30, 2011
- US unmanned Predator drones could assassinate Gaddafi: Hague - Apr 25, 2011
- Obama approves use of Predator drones to tackle Gaddafi forces in Libya - Apr 22, 2011
- US aborted drone attack on Sirajuddin Haqqani in Pak over fear of civilian deaths - Feb 23, 2011
- US sends drones to hunt for Al Qaeda in Yemen - Nov 07, 2010
- New stealth drones flew into Pakistan to see Osama house - May 18, 2011
- Five militants killed in US drone attack in South Waziristan - Feb 21, 2011
- NATO forces tried to assassinate Gaddafi: Libyan official - Apr 25, 2011
- 15 militants killed in US drone attack in North Waziristan - Dec 27, 2010
- 16 die in US drone strike in Pakistan - Aug 10, 2011
- Pentagon planning to replace unmanned drones with manned ones to avoid legal hassles - Jun 07, 2010
- Pakistan urging 'friends' to pressurise US to end drone attacks: Gilani - Apr 14, 2011
- US drone attack kills four militants in North Waziristan - Dec 11, 2010
- US gives up plan to retrieve drone downed in Iran: Report - Dec 08, 2011
Tags: american service members, deaths, defence officials, drones, fire incident, fox news, friendly fire, hellfire missile, insurgents, investigations, iraq, navy medic, news reports, powerful weapons, predator drone, southern afghanistan, surveillance, troops in afghanistan, unmanned aircraft, us military