Friendly Fire Killed Sports Star Turned Soldier

A former American football player who gave up his lucrative career to join the army was probably killed by friendly fire, it emerged yesterday.

Patrick Tillman became a heroic figure lionised across America after news of his death in Afghanistan was announced last month. Tillman had walked away from a $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals football team two years ago and signed up with the military on a salary of just $18,000 a year. Family and friends had said he was inspired to do so by the terrorist attacks of 11 September.

After his death the craggy-faced Tillman became a figure of inspiration for many Americans struggling with the moral complexities of the war in Iraq and the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. Tillman eventually joined the elite Rangers army unit, in which his brother also served. He refused to grant any media interviews from the day he joined the army.

Military investigators now believe that Tillman was accidentally shot by his own comrades during a fierce firefight after they were ambushed in southern Afghanistan. 'The results of this investigation in no way diminish the bravery and sacrifice of Corporal Tillman,' said Lieutenant-General Philip Kensinger.

The army investigation did not point the finger of blame at any individual soldiers who were with Tillman. 'There is an inherent danger of confusion in any firefight particularly when a unit is ambushed,' Kensinger said.

Tillman, who was 27 years old, had been with his unit near the Afghan town of Khost, close to the border with Pakistan. The unit was ambushed at around 7.30pm by about a dozen enemy fighters.

Tillman's team had passed the ambush point when the attack began and turned around to help the rest of the unit. During the following 20-minute exchange of fire, Tillman was hit and killed. Two other American soldiers were wounded in the battle and an Afghan militia man was killed.

Tillman was posthumously awarded a Silver Star for bravery. Both Tillman and his brother Kevin had taken part in the invasion of Iraq before their unit was redeployed to Afghanistan.