Video Shows Moment Americans Drop 500-Pound Bomb on Own Troops

A shocking video has emerged showing the moment American troops had a 500-pound bomb dropped on their outpost by a US pilot.

Artillery soldiers are seen recoiling after an airstrike goes off target and lands metres away from the wooden outpost they are in, devastating the impact zone.

The soldiers had been firing mortars towards enemy lines in the Paktika Province, Afghanistan, before the explosive hit the ground near them. The pilot is thought to have mistaken the Americans for Taliban insurgents.

Military website Funker350.com released the video along with an interview with one of the troops in the video.

The soldier is reported to have told the site: "Honestly we had dropped so many bombs up to that point that the thought never even crossed my mind that this could even happen, especially with all the checks put into place.

"About a half second before impact you could hear the bomb screaming in like I hadn't ever heard before, and I definitely knew at that point something was off. After the initial realisation that it had hit behind us, we were so scatter brained trying to figure out what happened. It hit so close to the guys in the tower it actually knocked the fill out of radios.

"If it hadn't been for the decision of the First Sergeant to bring everyone to "stand to", three of our guys would have died in that wood building. His decision saved three of our men."