Friendly fire inquest finds deaths were avoidable (Iraq, 2003)

[Barrett808]

Source: Guardian Unlimited

A British army officer was criticised by a coroner today over a "completely avoidable tragedy" which saw two soldiers killed in a friendly fire incident in Iraq.

Corporal Stephen Allbutt, 35, died when his platoon was fired on by a tank attached to the Black Watch in March 2003. Trooper David Clarke, 19, from Littleworth, Staffordshire, was also killed but because his remains were never found, an inquest into his death cannot be held.

The troop leader whose tank killed the soldiers had been told moments before that there were no friendly troops in the area.
Today the Oxfordshire assistant deputy coroner, Andrew Walker, said the platoon had not been given vital area information about where Cpl Allbutt's men were "or even warned of the fact that they were there".

Mr Walker added that the deaths followed a "catalogue of misunderstandings and failures" with significant gaps in the communication between commanding officers.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,2124997,00.html