The B-52 was taking part in a simulated aerial bombardment in radio link with ground teams.

The dead Marine was identified as Captain Seth R. Michaud, 27, a naval pilot of Hudson, Massachusetts.

The plane dropped nine M117 bombs which impacted near service personnel and two Marine Corps CH53 Super Stallion helicopters parked on the ground near the field of fire, a statement by the US command said here.

The bombs had dropped close to personnel near the field of fire, killing one and injuring eight others at Godoria, on Djibouti's northern coast, it added.

The two helicopters had been destroyed.

The injured Marines were first hospitalised in a French military hospital, then transferred to an American army hospital at Landstuhl in Germany.

The forces supporting the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa were participating in a routine training exercise.

The headquarters of a US counterterrorism task force in the Horn of Africa is at Camp Lemonier, a former French Foreign Legion base in Djibouti, used by US forces in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

The joint task force was set up late last year to pursue suspected al-Qaeda terrorists in the Horn of Africa and to step up the US military presence in the region.

WAR.WIRE