AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar -- A U.S. army soldier was killed by friendly fire when he was mistaken for an enemy fighter while investigating a destroyed Iraqi tank, U.S. military officials said on Friday.

The shooting, which took place on Thursday, was the latest of several confirmed or suspected friendly fire incidents in recent days by U.S. forces.

Central Command, in a statement from its war headquarters in Qatar, did not disclose the soldier's name, but said he was a member of the army's 5th Corps and that the incident occurred in central Iraq.

On Thursday, the Command Center said it was looking into the possibility that a patriot missile shot down a U.S. Navy F-18C Hornet Jet and a possible attack on U.S. ground forces by an F-15E strike Eagle plane that killed at least one soldier.

Also, it said a U.S. marine sleeping with his gun was killed when the weapon accidentally fired into his chest on Wednesday.