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Post by Frenchie on May 17, 2009 20:26:16 GMT 1
Human error was partly to blame for the "friendly fire" incident that killed a Royal Marine in Afghanistan, a coroner ruled this week. Marine Jonathan Wigley, 21, was engaged in a gun battle with the Taliban in Helmand province when he was hit by gunfire from an American F18 aircraft as he lay in a ditch. He died almost instantly from severe chest wounds. The assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire, Andrew Walker, recorded a narrative verdict outlining the events of 5 December 2006. The American pilot, identified only as Pilot One, did not give evidence, but Walker praised the US today for its co-operation with the hearing in Oxford. Walker said the American jet mistook members of 45 Zulu Company 45 Commando Royal Marines for insurgent forces, which were situated 430 metres (1,400ft) away. Their positions, near a strip of trees and Taliban compounds, were very similar, he told the inquest, attended by Marine Wigley's parents, Clive and Sharon Wigley. He said: "Pilot One misidentified the target, in part due to similarities in the tree lines and their proximity to building complexes, and in part due to human factors." More >>
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