Deaths and wounding of French Troops may have been friendly fire

Thu Aug 21, 11:10 AM ET
08/21/08 AFP: NATO denies friendly fire killed French troops in Afghanistan

NATO on Thursday denied that Alliance warplanes mistakenly killed any of the 10 French troops who died in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - NATO on Thursday denied that Alliance warplanes mistakenly killed any of the 10 French troops who died in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan.


"As far as NATO and ISAF (NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are concerned, the allegations in Le Monde are completely unfounded," Alliance spokeswoman Carmen Romero said.

"We deny the report... we have no information whatsoever that would indicate that the French soldiers were killed by NATO planes," Romero added.

Ten French soldiers were killed and 21 wounded in a sustained attack Monday by the insurgents east of Kabul.

Le Monde newspaper reported Wednesday that according to French troops wounded in the fighting, NATO air strikes missed their targets and hit French troops, as did shots fired by Afghan troops backing them up.
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