Troops die in bomb blunder

Four Canadian soldiers were killed today and another eight wounded when they were bombed by a US warplane in Afghanistan.

In the latest instance of "friendly fire" to blight the US-led war on terror, the soldiers were hit by at least one laser-guided missile.

Navy Commander Frank Merriman, spokesman for Central Command, said an Air National Guard F16 dropped one or two 500lb bombs near Kandahar, a former Taliban stronghold.

Neither US nor Canadian officials know what caused the error. But the early indications are that the soldiers were mistaken for al Qaeda fighters by a US patrol. Several hundred Royal Marines are in mountains south of the city, but none was involved in this accident.

President George Bush phoned Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien to express his condolences. These are the first Canadian deaths in an offensive combat operation since the Korean War which ended in 1953. Canadian defence officials said their soldiers were on a night training exercise 10 miles south of their Kandahar base.

Canadian Lt-Gen Ray Henault said: "How this can happen is a mystery to us. Without a doubt there was a misidentification."

He said the area is recognised as a training area and the aircraft were using very strictly controlled routes. General Henault said he did not have all the details but added: "My understanding is that this aircraft was in no way supporting or involved in that particular exercise."

Some of the injured soldiers will be moved to a medical facility in Uzbekistan and others to Ramstein, Germany, depending on their condition. Two who were slightly injured will remain in Kandahar for treatment.

Mr Chretien said the "terrible accident" will prompt a full inquiry. "Clearly there are many questions that the families, and all Canadians, expect to have answered," he said.

Canadian forces are fighting alongside US and European troops seeking to hunt down remnants of Osama bin Laden's terrorist organisation and the Taliban militia.

Royal Marines from 45 Commando are spearheading the hunt and will want assurances that their units will be protected from similar incidents.

The bombing is among the worst friendly fire accidents since the campaign began in October. On 5 December a B52A dropped a bomb on US and Afghan forces near Kandahar, killing three Americans and at least seven Afghans, and slightly wounding Hamid Karzai, now Afghanistan's interim leader.

The investigation is not complete but officials have said there were errors in transmitting target coordinates to the B52.

On 22 December, US aircraft struck a convoy near Khost, killing dozens of Afghans. Some Afghans say the convoy was carrying tribal leaders to Karzai's inauguration, but US military commanders say it was a legitimate target.

The bombing casts a shadow over the return to Afghanistan today of former king Zahir Shah.

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