Missing UK Aircraft May Have Been Hit by US Missiles

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, March 23, 2003

Missing UK Aircraft May Have Been Hit by US Missiles

A Royal Air Force aircraft was reported missing Sunday and British officials said it may have been shot down by a US Patriot missile.

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A Royal Air Force aircraft was reported missing Sunday and British officials said it may have been shot down by a US Patriot missile.

"We have evidence to suspect that an RAF aircraft which was recovering from an operational mission may have been engaged by a U.S.-operated Patriot missile battery near the Kuwaiti border," a British military statement said.

Group Capt. Al Lockwood, a spokesman for British forces in the Persian Gulf, said the aircraft may have been shot down near the Kuwaiti border. Britain's Ministry of Defense said the crew was missing.

"One of our aircraft recovering from operations over Kuwait, evidence is beginning to come to light that suggests it was engaged by a U.S. Patriot missile," Lockwood said.

Asked whether "engaged" meant "shot down," Lockwood said, "Evidence is pointing in that direction."

A U.S. official confirmed that a Patriot missile battery "may have engaged" the aircraft near the Kuwaiti border. The official said no other information was available.

Patriot missiles are designed to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles and low-flying cruise missiles, not planes. Lockwood indicated there would be an investigation.

"We wish to find out just as everybody else does, the U.S. as well, why this happened," Lockwood said. "And we will be carrying out a joint investigation to determine the facts so that we can eliminate this problem forever."

He said the Americans were "just as concerned as we are that this has occurred."

"You must remember is high-intensity conflict. This is war and it's not training," said Lockwood. "We will continue to do our job and see it to its finish."

In London, the defense ministry declined to say how many crew members were in the aircraft, or what type of aircraft was involved.

UK Aircraft Missing in Gulf After Mission

The British Defense Ministry said Sunday a Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft went missing after failing to return from a mission in the Gulf region.

"An RAF aircraft has gone missing after recovering from an operational mission in the Gulf," the spokesman told Reuters.

The spokesman said he could give no further details and did not yet know the type of aircraft involved or where it disappeared.

Britain has lost 14 troops in two helicopter crashes since U.S.-led forces unleashed a war on Iraq on Thursday.

Britain has sent some 45,000 military personnel to the Persian Gulf to join in the U.S.-led attack against Iraq. Fourteen British and eight American servicemen have been killed since the beginning of the war against Iraq.

Six British troops and a U.S. Navy officer died Saturday when two British Royal Navy helicopters collided over the Persian Gulf.

Another helicopter crash Friday claimed the lives of eight British and four U.S. Marines. The CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed and burned about nine miles south of the Iraqi border town of Umm Qasr. Military officials said no hostile fire was reported in the area.

Two U.S. Marines were killed in combat Friday, and a member of the 101st Airborne division died in a grenade blast Saturday.

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