VETERAN BBC reporter John Simpson has been injured in a "friendly fire" incident in northern Iraq.The BBC's World Affairs Editor, who was brought up at Dunwich on the Suffolk coast, suffered minor injuries and described the attack as a "bad own goal".

VETERAN BBC reporter John Simpson has been injured in a "friendly fire" incident in northern Iraq.

The BBC's World Affairs Editor, who was brought up at Dunwich on the Suffolk coast, suffered minor injuries and described the attack as a "bad own goal".

A convoy of American special forces and Kurdish civilians came under attack today in what witnesses described as another friendly-fire incident.

A senior Kurdish official is thought to be among those who were injured in the raid when an American plane dropped a bomb on a convoy of vehicles containing Kurdish fighters and American special forces.

The convoy contained between eight and 10 cars, two of which contained US special forces.

As many as 12 American soldiers travelling in the convoy are believed to have been killed in the attack.

Mr Simpson said: "I have counted 10 to 12 bodies. Americans dead.'

"This is just a scene from hell here. There are vehicles on fire, bodies lying around, and there are bits of bodies around me.

"They hit their own people. They've killed a lot of ordinary characters. I'm just looking at the bodies now and it's not a very pretty sight.'

He said the bomb was dropped from a US plane 10 to 12 feet from where he was standing.