LONDON (AP) — A British court has ruled that the families of several soldiers who were killed in Iraq can sue the government for negligence.
The families accuse the government of failing to provide armored vehicles or equipment that could have saved lives.
The High Court backed the families last year, but the Ministry of Defense appealed.
On Friday the Court of Appeal agreed with the previous ruling that the families can sue the government for damages on negligence grounds.
The cases are brought by relatives of Cpl. Stephen Allbutt, who died in a "friendly fire" incident involving two Challenger tanks in March 2003, and of several soldiers who died when explosions hit lightly armored Land Rovers.
Some 179 British personnel died in Iraq between the 2003 invasion and British withdrawal in 2009.
