Tag: friendly fire

Plot Twist: Kuwaiti Fighter Jet Shot Down All Three US F-15s

In a remarkable feat, a single Kuwaiti F/A-18 Super Hornet took out all three of the American F-15s that were shot down over Kuwait on Sunday, according to sources who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. The new narrative replaces the initial reports that attributed the shootdowns to a Kuwaiti Patriot missile battery. 

Launching just three missiles, a single pilot went three-for-three, destroying the trio of F-15E Strike Eagles, which were purchased for something like a combined $93 million in 1998 dollars, or $187 million today. New F-15EX models go for about $100 million apiece. All six crew members parachuted safely in Kuwaiti territory, though one of them had an unsettling reception from a pipe-wielding Kuwaiti who may have mistaken him for an Iranian pilot.

The incident happened shortly after an Iranian drone hit a US tactical operations center in Kuwait, killing six US Army Reserve soldiers, say the Journal’s sources, who are familiar with the initial reports on the mishap. With many other drones having swarmed the area, when an amped-up Kuwaiti pilot saw jets on his radar, he started blasting.

The airspace in the theater of operations is a madhouse, packed with fighter jets, bombers, reconnaissance craft, fuel tankers, drones, cruise missiles, HIMARS rockets, interceptor missiles, and incoming Iranian missiles and drones. “It’s a busy, busy air environment, and in times of stress, tension, crisis, and, certainly in this case, conflict, even more so,” retired US Air Force B-52 bomber pilot Mark Gunzinger told the Journal.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Dan Karbler, who led the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command provided additional perspective on these types of incidents and what investigators will look at: 

A fratricide incident like the one in Kuwait usually happens because of several breakdowns in communication or failures in equipment, Karbler said. Investigators will be looking to see if the aircraft friend-or-foe transponders, which are supposed to broadcast the information about a plane electronically, were working properly. Other factors are whether the Kuwaitis knew the planned flight paths of the American jets, whether the aircraft themselves were flying the correct routes and whether Kuwait was able to talk to the F-15s, either electronically or by voice…

“It’s all the more complicated when you have different air defense systems operating on different frequencies that aren’t integrated, and some of those systems are actively trying to counter threats such as drones,” he said.

Keep reading

Three US F-15 Fighter Jets Shot Down in Kuwait

Three U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets crashed in Kuwait after being struck with friendly fire on Sunday.

In a press release, U.S. CENTCOM stated, “At 11:03 p.m. ET, March 1, three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident.”

U.S. CENTCOM added, “The cause of the incident is under investigation.”

Videos of the incident show one of the F-15Es on fire and circling the air as it was free-falling before eventually crashing into the ground.

Per U.S. CENTCOM:

At 11:03 p.m. ET, March 1, three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident.

During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses.

All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation.

The cause of the incident is under investigation. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.

CNN reported a bystander could be heard in one of the videos of the jet falling, saying, “The American aircraft was shot down by their own missile. We came here thinking it was an Iranian jet. It turned out to be American. Come on, guys, get in the car. Let’s go.

The aircraft’s pilot appeared to eject before impact and safely landed.

Keep reading

Australia seeking criminal charges over aid workers slain by IDF in Gaza

Canberra is demanding criminal charges over an Israeli drone attack on Gaza that left aid workers dead, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said.

Seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed in a 2024 Israeli airstrike, which the NGO has described as “targeted.” The victims included Australian Zomi Frankcom, three British nationals, a Polish national, a dual US-Canadian citizen, and a Palestinian.

The issue was raised this week as Israeli President Isaac Herzog is visiting Australia to express solidarity with the country’s Jewish community in the wake of a deadly mass shooting which took place in December.

Albanese told Australia’s parliament on Wednesday that he had confronted Israel regarding the slain aid workers, calling it “a tragedy and an outrage” and saying Canberra had made clear its “expectation that there be transparency about Israel’s ongoing investigation” into the incident.

“We continue to press for full accountability, including any appropriate criminal charges,” he said, noting that Herzog had agreed to “engage.”

The aid workers were traveling through a de-conflicted zone in central Gaza in two armored cars with the WCK logo on them as well as a soft-skin vehicle when struck, despite the WCK coordinating its movements with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), according to the NGO.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged that the IDF was behind the airstrike but is insisting that it was an accident.

Keep reading

CBS News Contributor Killed by Israel Just Weeks After His Wedding

Three journalists, including a CBS News contributor, were killed in an Israeli strike outside a camp for displaced people in Gaza on Wednesday.

Abdel Raouf Shaat – a contributor to CBS News and Agence France-Presse – was killed along with Mohamed Qishta and Anas Ghneim after their car was hit by an Israeli strike while leaving a camp for displaced people.

According to reports, the three journalists were recording footage of the camp while on assignment for the media arm of an Egyptian relief committee.

After leaving the camp, their car was struck by the Israeli military just a mile away.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces accused the journalists, without providing evidence, of operating “a drone affiliated with Hamas.”

“IDF troops identified several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas in central Gaza, in a manner that posed a threat to their safety,” the IDF claimed. “Following the identification and due to the threat that the drone posed to the troops, the IDF precisely struck the suspects who activated the drone.”

In its own statement, AFP mourned the loss of its contributor and demanded a full investigation into his killing.

“We are in mourning for the loss of our colleague Abdul Raouf Shaat who was a regular contributor to AFP’s production for nearly two years,” said AFP, adding that Shaat was “much loved” and remembered “as a kind-hearted colleague, with a gentle sense of humor and as a deeply committed journalist.”

The news organization continued, “AFP demands a full and transparent investigation into his death […] Far too many local journalists have been killed in Gaza over the past two years while foreign journalists remain unable to enter the territory freely.”

CBS News president Tom Cibrowski also informed staff of the news in a call on Wednesday morning, revealing that the journalist had just gotten married a few weeks prior.

While not on assignment for CBS News at the time of his death, the news organization stated that Shaat “filed regularly for CBS News from the city of Khan Yunis during the war in Gaza, even sending video from the back of an ambulance on one occasion when he was wounded.”

CBS News is owned by David Ellison – a close associate of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – and led by pro-Israel commentator Bari Weiss, who has visited Israel more than 15 times.

At least 258 journalists and media workers have been killed since the beginning of the war in Gaza in 2023, according to the International Federation of Journalists.

Keep reading

Bondi Beach hero helped disarm terrorist before police mistakenly shot him: report

A man who rushed in to help disarm one of the terrorists who fired at a crowd celebrating Hanukkah in Australia’s famous Bondi Beach was mistakenly shot by police and tackled by bystanders, according to a new report.

The heroic civilian, who was only described as a Middle Eastern refugee living with his Australian wife and kids, was in Bondi Beach when Naveed Akram, 24, and his father Sajid, 50, allegedly opened fire at a crowd of Jewish revelers.

At least 15 people were killed in the attack and dozens others injured.

Harrowing video shows the moment the good Samaritan runs up the bridge where the gunmen were firing from after one of them was hit by police returning fire, the Daily Mail reported.

The man quickly sneaks up on the downed shooter and begins kicking his rifle out of reach before the gunman can grab it.

The quick-thinking civilian then begins to raise his hands and back away from the scene, but gunfire continues to ring out as he shouts, “Don’t shoot.”

Keep reading

Cover-up revealed in death of airman at F.E. Warren Air Force Base

Security Forces Airman Brandon Lovan was killed while on duty at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, on July 20, 2025. Preliminary reports from airmen stationed at the base attributed Lovan’s death to an uncommanded discharge from an Air Force-issued M18 pistol. In response to these reports, Global Strike Command and the entire Air Force conducted inspections of all M18 pistols in service.

On Oct. 31, 2025, the 90th Missile Wing Public Affairs published a court-martial summary following the investigation into Lovan’s death. Airman 1st Class Sarbjot Badesha and Airman 1st Class Matthew Rodriguez both pleaded guilty to making false official statements relating to Lovan’s death. Airman 1st Class Marcus White-Allen mishandled his M18, killing Lovan, and conspired with the others to cover up the incident.

During their guilty pleas, both Airmen admitted they saw White-Allen pull his duty weapon from his holster and point it at Lovan’s chest in a joking manner. Each stated they then heard the firearm go off and saw Lovan fallen on the ground. According to their pleas, in the immediate aftermath of the incident, White-Allen told Badesha, “Here’s the story. Tell them that I slammed my duty belt on the desk, and it went off.”

Additionally, White-Allen told Rodriguez to tell the responding emergency personnel, White-Allen’s “holster went off.” Neither Airman reported that information to investigators during their initial witness interviews on Jul. 20, 2025. The false statements from both Airmen hindered law enforcement efforts, leading investigators to initially believe Lovan’s death was a result of an accidental discharge from White-Allen’s M18.

Keep reading

The Most Incredible Story Never Told: LBJ’s Order to Destroy the USS Liberty

LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON is a president who has escaped the scrutiny and judgment of history despite considerable documentation that should make him an outstanding candidate for historical review, critique, and analysis. His primary biographer, Robert Caro, consistently gets rave book reviews from mainstream media for his disingenuous puff piece books on LBJ. It’s entirely possible that LBJ is the most evil or one of the most evil presidents in US history. (ILLUSTRATION: The USS Liberty post-Israeli attack)

Some researchers believe that LBJ was the mastermind behind JFK’s assassination and researcher Phillip F. Nelson wrote a book documenting his investigation on this issue: LBJ: The Mastermind of JFK’s Assassination.

However, one of the greatest unknown chapters in LBJ’s presidency is that he personally gave the order to Israel to bomb and utterly destroy the USS Liberty and its entire crew of 294 Americans. Astoundingly, when the mission went awry and Sixth Fleet Commanders were ordering the rescue of the besieged and bloodied USS Liberty crew, LBJ ordered that rescue operations be called back, at least twice. Against all odds, the USS Liberty survived but after the attack, 34 Americans lay dead. Except for four worthless .50 caliber machine guns, the USS Liberty was unarmed and defenseless against the far superior firing power of the Israeli navel and air force armada that descended upon it with relentless and unspeakable terror.

Not a whole lot has been written about the USS Liberty. It’s just another critically important issue that has been buried in history, but two extraordinary books document the truth. James M. Ennes Jr., is a retired US Naval Officer and a survivor of the Liberty attack who wrote a book that documents his investigative disclosure of the truth, here.

Peter Hounam, an investigative journalist, wrote Operation Cyanide, Why the Bombing of the USS Liberty Nearly Caused World War III. Hounam’s extraordinary book, published in 2003, relies heavily on the work of Ennis and also documents numerous interviews that Hounam conducted with the USS Liberty survivors as well as other folks in the US, British, and Israeli governments.

The “official” story of the USS Liberty, according to the government and mainstream media version of the event, is that on June 8, 1967 the Israelis accidentally bombed the Liberty off the coast of Egypt and killed 34 American sailors.

The real story is that President Johnson, who was being battered in the polls over the Vietnam War and facing a general election loss and even losing the Democrat primary, asked the Israelis to bomb the Liberty to create a casus belli and to secure a Gulf-of-Tonkin-style resolution to explode the world into war — because in America everybody loves an outraged and indignant president who will use the full force of the military at the slightest provocation, even a government-planned false flag attack.

The USS Liberty, however, encompasses far more than a murderous psychopathic American president resorting to hideously evil deeds to get re-elected. In addition to ordering the total destruction of the USS Liberty and potentially sending 294 Americans to a watery grave in the Mediterranean Sea, LBJ also ordered the nuclear bombing of Cairo, an event specifically designed to create a nuclear war by blaming the entire USS Liberty affair on Russia or Egypt. More horrifying, it’s documented that US planes were on emergency standby orders as pilots waited on the runways in their planes armed with nuclear weapons. The nuclear bombing of Cairo was called off only three minutes before the nuclear bomb drops.

As fate would have it, LBJ’s plan blew up in his face and the world got a reprieve from a US-induced nuclear holocaust.

Keep reading

Armed police who shot synagogue terror victims, killing one and injuring another, could face criminal charges

Armed police involved in the fatal shooting of Manchester synagogue terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie may face criminal charges.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) admitted one of the victims of Thursday’s attack died after apparently being injured by a police gunshot. His family tonight described him as a hero.

Another person was also injured as police sought to contain the terror threat.

It is believed both victims were standing behind a door at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall when they were hit.

Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead at the scene wearing what appeared to be a suicide vest. The device was later discovered not to be viable.

But police do not believe Al-Shamie was armed, meaning the two gunshot injuries were likely from police firearms.

In a statement, Emily Barry, director of engagement at the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), said the watchdog would now investigate.

She said: ‘Our thoughts remain with the victims and their families, as well as all those affected by yesterday’s horrific events.

Keep reading

Police bullet may have killed one of two synagogue attack victims in Manchester

One of the two men killed in a car and knife attack on a synagogue in the city of Manchester may have been killed by a bullet fired by a police officer, the force said on Friday.

Greater Manchester Police chief Stephen Watson said a forensic examination has provisionally determined that the victim had “a wound consistent with a gunshot injury.” He said the attacker did not have a gun and that the only shots fired were by police.

“This injury may sadly have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence of the urgently required action taken by my officers to bring this vicious attack to an end,” Watson said.

Police said local residents Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, died in the attack Thursday on the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in the Manchester suburb of Crumpsall. Three other people are hospitalized in serious condition.

Keep reading

IDF drones mistakenly drop grenades close to UNIFIL troops

The IDF mistakenly sent drones to drop grenades close to UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon, believing they were Hezbollah forces, it said Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier on Wednesday, UNIFIL said Israeli drones had dropped four grenades close to its peacekeepers who were working on Tuesday morning to clear roadblocks that were hindering access to a UN position.

“This is one of the most serious attacks on UNIFIL personnel and assets since the cessation of hostilities agreement of last November,” UNIFIL said.

One grenade impacted within 20 meters and three within approximately 100 meters of UN personnel and vehicles, it said.

The IDF had been informed in advance of UNIFIL’s road clearance work in the area, southeast of the village of Marwahin, UNIFIL said.

Keep reading