AMERICAN and Canadian armed forces are investigating reports that friendly fire may have caused the deaths of a US and Canadian soldier during a gun battle at a base in southern Afghanistan.

The US-led coalition today said it would investigate an attack on one of its bases in southern Afghanistan that killed a US and a Canadian soldier, including whether any of the casualties were caused by friendly fire.

THE last minutes of the life of footballer Pat Tillman, who turned down a fortune to fight for his country, were a horror of misdirected machine-gun fire and signals to firing colleagues that were misunderstood as hostile acts.

Pat Tillman was the embodiment of the all American hero.

Insurgents ambushed an American military convoy on a road in southern Afghanistan, setting off an explosion that wounded three marines – one of them seriously, the US military said in Kabul.

Former Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman has died in action while serving with the US Army Rangers in Afghanistan.

THE Pentagon has ordered a crackdown on any more images of coffins containing America's war dead being shown in public amid claims the US government is trying to cover up the true cost of the war.