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India fishermen deny US ship warned them before shooting

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India fishermen deny US ship warned them in UAE shooting


Indian fishermen injured when their boat was shot at by a US Navy ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) say they received no warnings before they came under fire.

One fisherman was killed and three others injured when the USNS Rappahannock raked the small boat with machinegun fire near Dubai on Monday.

The US Navy says the boat approached at speed and ignored repeated warnings.

Indian and US officials have launched investigations into the incident.

The shooting comes as the US expands its military presence in the Gulf, ramping up pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme.

'Very sudden'

Fisherman Muthu Muniraj, 28, speaking to Reuters news agency from hospital in Dubai, said they had not received any warnings from the US refuelling ship.

"We had no warning at all from the ship, we were speeding up to try and go around them and then suddenly we got fired at," he said.

Mr Muniraj was shot in the legs.

"We know warning signs and sounds and there were none. It was very sudden. My friend was killed, he's gone. I don't understand what happened."

The crew of the boat - six Indians and two Emiratis - said they had been returning from trawling in waters off Jebel Ali.

"We were fishing and then on the way back they started shooting at us, so many shots, like a storm," said Muthu Kannan, 35.

He suffered gunshot wounds to the abdomen and leg.

"This is not the first time for us to go out in the boat and we all know what a warning is," said Pandu Sanadhan, 26.

"All I can remember is a lot of shooting."

The identity of the fisherman who was killed has not yet been released.

The dead man and his wounded colleagues all came from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The US embassy in Delhi issued a statement on Tuesday "to convey its condolences" to the families of the crew.

US defence officials said on Monday that after "the vessel disregarded non-lethal warnings and rapidly approached the US ship", a security team on the Rappahannock fired rounds from a .50-calibre machine gun.

There were concerns of a repeat of the suicide attack 12 years ago on the destroyer USS Cole in which a small boat was used, they added.

Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna described Monday's death as "unfortunate" and said the matter had been taken up with the United States.

Monday's incident follows the killing of two Indian fishermen in February off India's southern coast by Italian marines guarding an oil tanker. The marines said they mistook the fishermen for pirates.

Two Italian marines have been charged with murder and are on trial in India and the incident has caused a diplomatic row between the two countries.

BBC News - India fishermen deny US ship warned them in UAE shooting

Where is strong worded protest from the Govt.???
 
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Haha apparently Indians are saying the world community is mad with the US :rofl: and now Indian media is saying unprovoked attack :lol:

Hehe, didn't hear these words when 26 pak soldiers were killed
 
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Mostly a communication isssue. How poor fisher man know american symbols
 
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I suspect the US Navy vessel has radio, and possibly video, recording of event. The loss of life is sad. If the US Navy version is correct, they were right to fire. If the fishermen simply did not see or understand, then it is a mistake on their part. If the fishermen completely disregarded the signals, they were fools and paid with their lives. I do not believe the US Navy is out looking for fishing boats to shoot up without cause.
 
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Although these kind of incidents are unfortunate and the person who was commanding the .50 calibre didnt use it from a direct oreder from white house, but his own instincts. But we did a right thing by not giving MRCA to US, they still have a long way to go as far as true friendship is concerned which we enjoy over Russia, France and Israel.
 
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Haha apparently Indians are saying the world community is mad with the US :rofl: and now Indian media is saying unprovoked attack :lol:

Hehe, didn't hear these words when 26 pak soldiers were killed


Don't be soo happy.....Damm

We also feeled sad when ur 26 soldiers were mistakely killed by US Forces.

Whatever......RIP to the Dead......Rest in peace.
 
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It is sad that a fisherman got killed. RIP. But I do not think it was something deliberate on U.S navy's part. Maybe a fast reacting sailor/sailors due to the elevated threat levels due to piracy and tensions with Iran. It is better to wait for investigations conducted both by UAE and US and US especially have mentioned will share the probe details with India.
 
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Why would the US just open fire randomly? Something does not add up.
The title is the answer.....And may be those fishermen didn't understand something called warning and expected such action against them.

Mis-communication and mis-judgement is more logical answer than the conspiracy theories and off topic ranting by some posters.
 
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Trigger-happy thugs were bored at the time and were looking for a little excitement。That's all there is to it。
 
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in my opinion it was a miscommunication . the US navy is hardly going to get their rocks off by shooting fishermen .
 
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Well India! your new found strategic friend is very trigger happy. So you will have live with. A few Indians killed here or there.
 
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