Earlier reports said a British soldier was killed and five others injured in a "friendly fire" incident in southern Iraq where an American A10 tank buster plane targeted the two armored tanks they were on board, while British authorities said the circumstances surrounding the incident were being investigated.

The US aircraft had made two sweeps over the two Scimitar lighter connaissance tanks, the paper quoted the three survivors as saying, adding that they were approaching a group of Iraqi civilians waving white flags when the plane attacked them.

"There was a boy no more than 12 years old. He was no more than20 meters away when the Yank opened up...He had absolutely no regard for human life. I believe he was a cowboy," the paper quoted one of the survivors, Lance Corporal Steven Gerrard as saying.

"We can identify a friendly vehicle from 1,500 meters, yet you've got an A10 with advanced technology and he can't use a thermal sight to identify whether a tank is a friend or a foe. It's ridiculous," Gerrard said.

"Combat is what I have been trained for. I can command my vehicle. I can keep it from being attacked. What I have not been trained to do is look over my shoulder to see whether an American is shooting at me," Gerrard added.

The paper also quoted another survivor as saying that he had stumbled out of the burning wreckage of his light tank and waved frantically to the pilot of the low-flying A10 to try to halt his "friendly fire" as he returned to attack again.

Gerrard, 33, together with Lieutenant Alex MacEwen, 25 and Trooper Chris Finney, 18, were flown home on Sunday with shrapnel wounds and burns.

Britain, which firmly supports the US in the run-up to the war against Iraq, has so far lost 24 servicemen in this US-led military action.

Five have been killed in action, 14 in accidents and five in so-called "friendly fire" incidents.

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2003)