Eighteen coalition personnel have been killed by a US bomber in what military authorities are calling a "non-precision elimination exercise". US spokeskiller Sgt Rip Hartout said he was "emotionally operative" regarding the deaths and would "investigate them ongoingly".

Among the injured was the BBC's John Simpson. One explanation from the US central command was that his group was targetted because he was not wearing his burkha and looking like an Iraqi. "Of course we always target people on our own side," said Sgt Hartout, "that's the point of friendly fire, and we're getting better at it every day."

He continued, "Let's be clear about this. It's so bad we're calling it a cuddly fire incident. An F-16 dropped a happy-package which exploded and sent shards of happy-fluff into the legs and bodies of the recipients. And they didn't die. They've just gone to a better place."