Friendly Fire

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A Colombian soldier observes a ceremony commemorating the third anniversary of the deaths of 18 people in Santo Domingo. In back, a boy with his face painted white hangs a sign protesting the attack. (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

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Demonstrators march through the town of Tame, Colombia in December on the third anniversary of the bombing of Santo Domingo. About 1,500 people from Tame, Santo Domingo and other nearby communities took part in the march. The sign reads, “the impunity.” (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

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A young woman claps during ceremonies held in Tame to mark the third anniversary of the bombing. The flight crew involved says it targeted a jungle area 1,200 meters north of Santo Domingo. But there is only an open field there now. (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

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With faces painted white, a group of children and teenagers listen to the playing of Colombia’s national anthem. The head of the Colombian Air Force continued to deny that a cluster bomb was used in the attack, even after subordinates in the field duly reported its use to superiors at Air Force headquarters. The Air Force head today says the bombing was the result of a guerrilla car bombing gone awry. (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

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Residents of the town of Santo Domingo, Colombia, relax on a Sunday afternoon in December. Three years ago the Colombian military allegedly bombed this small town, killing 18 civilans, including seven children. (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

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The death toll in the bombing of Santo Domingo three years ago included the brother of these three children visiting a memorial. The Colombian military found that the explosion was caused by a car bomb set up by anti-government guerrillas in the area. After much wrangling, the investigation is back in the hands of the military. (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

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Children in Santo Domingo have depicted the December 13, 1998 attack on their town in a poster. It includes photos of the seven children killed. Its caption reads “A crime against humanity committed by airplanes donated by the U.S., supposedly to fight drugs.” The head of the Colombian Air Force, Gen. Hector Fabio Velasco, threatened to sue the human rights groups that produced the poster, but never followed up on the threat. (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

Colombian Air Force fires on its own troops.

March 6, 2003 4:19 PM PT

The Scene:
In this clip, the AirScan plane attempts to direct an armed H500 helicopter to shoot a Skyfire missile into the jungle to kill guerrillas who have pinned down Dragon Company, a Colombian army unit trapped near a bridge just outside of Santo Domingo. The H500 apparently misfire or misunderstands the directions, shooting the missile nearly on top of the troops, who are hunkered down along a road. One soldier is injured in the friendly fire.

The Players:
Gavilan (Sparrowhawk): Cessna Skymaster piloted by Barbaro Jose Orta with Maj. Cesar Gomez and Charles Denny on board. Gomez is link between Skymaster and other Colombian Air Force planes. Denny is crewmember controlling video camera.
Cazador (Hunter): A H500 Hughes piloted by Lt. German Lamilla, directing the bombing approach.

9:44:40
Cazador: Gavilan, it's Cazador
Gomez: Go ahead
Cazador: More or less in the middle of the jungle?
Gomez: Initiate the support on the edge, on the north edge of the jungle, initiate the support on the north edge of the jungle.
Cazador: But on the north edge are the troops.
Gomez: They are lying against the road, but they are shooting at them from there, wait a little, over there some 30 or 40 meters inside the jungle to the west.
Cazador: Okay, I'm going to begin with my first battery and you tell me. Do you have me in sight?
Gomez: No, not yet.
Cazador: But I'm almost over the field where we've done everything.
Gomez: Okay, ready.
Cazador: 3500.
Orta: Yeah, that's too close.
Gomez: Do you see him?
Orta: No, I don't see him. I'm looking.
Cazador: Entering.
Orta: I don't see him, I don't see him. He just fucking fired a rocket in there.
Denny: Where?
Orta: Right on the road.
Dragon Company commander: Don't shoot there, don't shoot there, don't shoot there!
Denny: In town?
Dragon Company commander: Don't shoot there, don't shoot there, Cazador, don't shoot there!
Orta: No, north of the bridge.
Denny: O, okay. O, where there's troops?
Orta: (Laughs) That's what he's doing.
Denny: That must be the smoke off the rocket. That's right next to the troops.
Orta: Yup. Tell him that's along side of the troops.
Gomez: Cazador, Cazador, Dragon.
Cazador: Go ahead.
Dragon Company commander: Brother, you shot on the road and I told you to shoot more toward the west from the road, toward the jungle, brother. You screwed a soldier.
Cazador: What?
Dragon Company commander: You screwed a soldier.
Orta: Oh shit, he wounded a fucking troop. Glad that wasn't my call.
Denny: It wasn't mine.
Orta: That's right. Dumb ass.
Gomez: I told the cretin to shoot to the west and he shot on the road.
Denny: He told him to the west and he shot to the east?
Orta: Yeah.
9:47:11

Friendly Fire

Colombian Air Force fires on its own troops.

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