
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 2, 1991                   TAG: 9102020154
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Cox News Service
DATELINE: DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA                                LENGTH: Short

`FRIENDLY FIRE' MAY HAVE KILLED MARINES

The 11 U.S. Marines killed in heavy fighting with Iraqi troops about 45 miles west of Khafji earlier this week may have been the victims of "friendly fire," U.S. military official reported Friday.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Kelly, director of operations for the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. officials "are not able to confirm" that the 11 were killed by friendly fire.

"It is a normal thing when friendly forces are close to enemy forces. But I am by no means sure that it was the result of friendly fire," he told reporters at the Pentagon.

Lt. Col. Jerry Humble, operations officer for the 1st Marine Division, said in Dhahran that an investigation is under way to determine whether the first U.S. combat deaths were caused by hostile fire or by a missile fired from a U.S. aircraft.

"We're saddened and disappointed" about the possibility the casualties were caused by friendly fire, Humble said. "But historically, there are always casualties by friendly fire in close battles because it's a fight for your life."

Combat correspondents with the 1st Marine Division said Iraqi troops and Marines were only about 25 yards apart during the fighting Tuesday night and Wednesday morning in northern Saudi Arabia near the tiny Kuwaiti village of Umm Hujul.

Two Marine light armored vehicles were destroyed in the battle and the investigation is centering on whether one of them was hit by a missile from an American aircraft.

by CNB