An American fighter jet accidentally dropped at least one laser-guided bomb on Canadian forces in Afghanistan Wednesday night, causing some casualties, the US military said.
The Canadian Press reported that four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight injured. The US Central Command confirmed there were dead and injured, but said it didn't know how many.
Navy Commander Frank Merriman, spokesman for Central Command in Tampa, Fla., said an Air National Guard F-16 dropped one or two 500-pound bombs near Kandahar, a former Taliban stronghold.
He said no further information was immediately available about what caused the error. An investigation was under way.
The Canadian Press report, citing an unidentified Canadian Defense Department official, said the Canadians were on an exercise about 10 miles south of their Kandahar base when two bombs were dropped.
Two of the wounded were in critical condition while one was classified as serious, the news agency reported. Arrangements were being made to transfer the dead and wounded out of the area.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien said President Bush had called to offer his condolences and pledged to cooperate with a Canadian investigation.
"As to the circumstances of what appears to have been a terrible accident, clearly there are many questions that the families, and all Canadians, expect to answered," Chretien said in a statement.
Canadian forces are fighting alongside US and European troops seeking to hunt down remnants of Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization and holdouts from Afghanistan's former ruling Taliban militia.
(China Daily April 18, 2002)
