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US 'friendly fire' kills one
07/03/2005 11:29 - (SA)
Sofia - A Bulgarian soldier killed on Friday in Iraq was the victim of "friendly fire" from a US soldier, Bulgarian Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov said.
"The information we have allows us to say with reasonable certainty that soldier Gardi Gardev was killed by friendly fire," the minister said, confirming an anonymous claim posted on a Bulgarian army website earlier on Monday asserting the soldier had been killed by US military fire.
A machine gunner on an armoured vehicle, Gardev died of multiple wounds suffered in an attack while his unit patrolled on a road to Baghdad in the village of Hamza, 160km south of the capital, a spokesman for the defense ministry said on Friday.
The message on the website, bgarmy.eamci.bg, said: "I want to state that the soldier Gardev died by 'friendly fire'... from an American soldier who wanted to protect a radio communication post.
"This is the truth, and I want to state this because I learned that a commission will come to conduct an enquiry.
"But in my opinion, it will only hide the facts," said the entry from a soldier who did not give his name.
Gardev was apparently returning to base on board an armoured vehicle when he was hit.
Gardev was the eighth Bulgarian to be killed while serving in Iraq, where the Nato member has 450 troops serving as part of a multinational contingent under Polish command.
US military gunfire was also responsible on Friday for killing Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari, as he helped free an Italian journalist from her hostage-takers in Iraq.
Italy was holding a full state funeral on Monday to honour Calipari, who has been hailed at home as a national "hero" and "martyr" for using his own body to shield the journalist, Giuliana Sgrena, when a US patrol near Baghdad opened fire on the convoy whisking her to safety.
- AFP
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