Miscommunication blamed for deadly US mistake

 Avoidable miscommunication between U.S. air and ground forces led to a 'friendly fire' incident in Afghanistan that killed five U.S. soldiers and one Afghan in June, according to a military investigation report.
The incident was one of the deadliest friendly fire episodes of the war, which began 13 years ago next month.
As a further reminder that the war is still deadly, even as U.S. forces prepare to end their combat mission in December, the Pentagon on Friday said Army Spc. Brian K. Arsenault, 28, died Thursday of wounds sustained when his unit was attacked by enemy forces in Ghazni, Afghanistan.
The report released Thursday by U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in Afghanistan, cited a collective failure by soldiers, commanders and air crew members to execute the fundamentals of the mission. As a result, the five Americans and one Afghan were mistaken for the enemy and were attacked with two laser-guided bombs from a B-1 bomber.
The deaths were an example of how battlefield mistakes caused by confusion or miscalculations can have profound consequences. Friendly fire is a problem as old as warfare, and although technological advances, training and combat experience have lessened the frequency, it still poses a threat to U.S. and allied forces.
A two-star Air Force general led the investigation. Many details of the report were blacked out before its public release.