5 U.S. Special Ops troops killed in Afghanistan 'friendly fire' bombing

5 U.S. Special Ops troops killed in Afghanistan 'friendly fire' bombing
(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

On Monday night, five U.S. Special Operations troops and at least one Afghan soldier were killed when a NATO coalition aircraft mistakenly bombed their position in Afghanistan's southern Zabul Province. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said only that "there is the possibility that fratricide may have been involved," but U.S. and Afghan officials confirmed Tuesday that the incident was a "friendly fire" error, The New York Times reports.

The Special Ops and Afghan troops were conducting security sweeps before Sunday's presidential runoff election when they were ambushed by Taliban fighters. The coalition forces called in airstrikes, leading to one of the worst friendly fire accidents among coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.