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Friendly fire probed in 2 deaths

The killings in Iraq were said to be enemy-caused. An investigation has raised new questions.

    by By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press, Inquirer
    Published 

WASHINGTON - Two soldiers killed in Iraq in February may have died as a result of friendly fire, Army officials said yesterday.

The Army said it was investigating the deaths of Pvt. Matthew Zeimer, 18, of Glendive, Mont., and Spec. Alan E. McPeek, 20, of Tucson, Ariz., who were killed Feb. 2 in Ramadi. The families of the two soldiers were initially told they were killed by enemy fire.

According to Army Col. Daniel Baggio, unit commanders in Iraq did not at first suspect they were killed by U.S. forces, but an investigation concluded that might be the case.

A supplemental report filed Feb. 28 suggested that initial reports might be wrong, but that an investigation was still under way, he said. It took an additional month before the families of the soldiers were told, March 31, that friendly fire was suspected.

Yesterday's disclosure comes on the heels of the announcement last week that nine high-ranking Army officers, including four generals, made critical errors in reporting the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan.

According to published reports at the time of the incident, McPeek and Zeimer came under attack at their outpost. A report in the Army Times said the soldiers ran to a roof to fight back, but a shot was fired through a concrete wall near them, and the impact killed them.

Army officials said that they could not confirm those early reports and that they had no new details on what actually happened. "What this suggests is there was the confusion that you frequently find on the battlefield," said Army spokesman Paul Boyce. "As soon as there is information that contradicts the initial report about the circumstances of a soldier's death, we notify the family about that suspicion."

The Army came under heavy criticism over its handling of Tillman's death. Officials instituted changes in the notification process and ordered that every hostile death be investigated.