UK-Afghanistan
Britain Friday launched an investigation to find out why an army helicopter accidentally fired on and injured nine UK troops in the first all-British 'friendly fire' incident in Afghanistan.

An Apache attack helicopter, which have recently been transferred from Iraq, was reported to have been called in by ground troops battling with Taleban fighters, while on a routine foot patrol in the Helmand River Valley.

The first attack was said to have successfully engaged the insurgents, but in a second attack, a British position was mistaken for the enemy, and resulted in nine troops being injured, including three described as seriously hurt.

The Ministry of Defence in London termed it a "rapidly-changing situation" as the helicopter fired on another position, which the crew believed was held by the enemy.

The incident is the first reported occurrence in Afghanistan of "friendly fire" involving only UK troops, although allied forces have previously hit each other's troops during the conflict.

In August last year, three British soldiers were killed when US fighter planes dropped a 225kg bomb on them.

In December 2006, marine Jonathan Wigley also died in an apparent attack by the US in Helmand province.

Other incidents have included an American F-16 fighter jet dropping a laser-guided bomb near Kandahar in April 2002,
accidentally killing four Canadian soldiers and injuring eight others.

There have also been several cases in Iraq.