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A US bombing in Afghanistan that killed five US soldiers and an Afghan in June was an avoidable mistake, the military admitted on Thursday.
US Central Command, which oversees operations in Afghanistan, cited a collective failure by soldiers, commanders and aircrew members to communicate and execute the fundamentals of the mission.
As a result, the soldiers and the Afghan were mistaken for enemy forces and were hit with laser-guided bombs.
The crew of the B-1 bomber were faulted by investigators for not taking reasonable precautions to identify where friendly forces were located.
Despite discrepancies in reported US troop locations, the aircrew did not take necessary steps to validate its information before launching the bombs, the command said.
Ground forces were blamed for incorrectly communicating troop positions.
They were also criticised for not knowing that the bomber’s targeting gear was incapable of detecting friendly marking devices.
