U.S. Probes Whether Friendly Fire Killed American Troops

An American military investigative team is trying to determine whether some of the Marines killed in a battle with Iraqi troops Tuesday were accidentally hit by fire from U.S. or allied forces.

Marine Lt. Col. Jerry Humble said that the four-man Marine team includes a munitions expert who will examine the hulk of the light armored vehicle in which an unspecified number of Marines was killed.

Eleven Marines died in the fighting. It was not clear how many were in the vehicle that Marines believe may have been hit by a U.S. warplane’s missile.

A Pentagon source in Washington said today that one reason for the investigation is that a hole in one of their vehicles came from a 30-millimeter gun, which is the weapon aboard the Air Force’s A-10 anti-tank “Warthog” aircraft.

Humble, operations officer for the 1st Marine Division, said that “we’re saddened and disappointed” about the possibility of deaths caused by friendly fire. “But historically, there’s always casualties by friendly fire in close battles because it’s a fight for your life.”

Marines and Iraqi ground forces were locked in close combat during much of Tuesday night’s fighting, and aircraft were called in to provide support, including missile attacks on Iraqi tanks.