Friendly fire 'kills fifth UK soldier'

Friendly fire 'kills fifth UK soldier'

An A-10 Thunderbolt is reported to have fired on two armoured vehicles

A UK soldier is reported to have been killed and others injured in a "friendly fire" incident in southern Iraq.

The soldier would be the fifth member of the UK forces killed by coalition colleagues since the start of the war in Iraq.

Reports say the soldier died after an American A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft targeted two armoured vehicles near Basra on Friday.

But the Ministry of Defence would only confirm that an incident was being investigated and that a soldier was missing, presumed dead.

A spokesman in London said the unit involved was a group of British light armoured vehicles belonging to D Squadron The Blues and Royals, Household Cavalry Regiment, which is based in Windsor, Berkshire.

Friendly fire toll

"One British soldier is missing believed dead, four others are injured," the spokesman said.

"There is a suggestion that this was a 'blue on blue' [friendly fire] incident but we are unable to confirm this before all the facts are known.

"The next of kin have been informed and the relatives of the injured are in the process of being informed."

The death takes the total number of UK personnel killed in the conflict so far to 23.

US gears up for long campaign

The latest fatality, apparently involving a US A-10 aircraft, bears uncomfortable similarities to an incident in the 1991 Gulf war when nine British soldiers died after their vehicles were attacked by US tankbusters.

On Saturday, UK army officials said breaking the rule of the Baath party in Basra was now the British military's "primary focus".

The announcement came hours after coalition claims that a building in the city hosting a meeting of 200 pro-Saddam paramilitaries (fedayeen) had been bombed.

"Targeting and eradication of the Baath party is now the critical effect we need to achieve and the British military's main effort," said Colonel Chris Vernon.

'Civilian support'

Previous reports of an uprising in Basra appear to have been misplaced, but Colonel Vernon stressed that persuading Basra residents to rise up on their own will remained the aim.

And it was an aim that was being realised, he claimed.

"Slowly but inexorably, the wedge between the people and the oppressors runs deeper with the inevitable end state of the removal of oppression and control of the people of Basra and its surrounding province," he said.

THE BATTLE FOR BASRA

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See also: Why Basra matters

He said UK attacks on Baath party targets and Friday's claimed capture of a senior party official by US Marines had "rocked their confidence" and further assaults using armoured infantry would continue "as we determine".

Patrolling British troops were "trying to win the people over" and humanitarian aid was also helping, he added.

Basra has been encircled for five days and with water supplies cut by half and international agencies warning of a crisis, coalition forces are anxious to be seen to deliver aid.

Earlier, defence officials denied reports that four or five British soldiers have been kidnapped in Basra overnight.