pte. costall, friendly fire death; would it surprise me - no, sad ...

Canadian and American armies examine whether Sagin deaths were friendly fire
April 4, 2006

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Coalition military investigators are looking into the possibility that the deaths of a Canadian and U.S. soldier in a firefight last week were the result of friendly fire.

Pte. Robert Costall, 22, a machine gunner and U.S. National Guard First-Class Sergeant John Stone, 52, a medic, died last Wednesday in a battle in the Sangin district of Helmand province. Both countries have launched separate investigations into the violent firefight, which occurred west of Kandahar when Taliban fighters tried to overrun a remote outpost.

A statement released by National Defence headquarters says officials have not ruled out the possibility that the casualties came as a result of enemy fire.

"The initial findings justify the requirement for further investigation to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the firefight, including whether any of the casualties may have resulted from 'friendly fire'," said a statement released at Kandahar airfield, the coalition's main base in southern Afghanistan.

"It is inappropriate for us to speculate on the events of 28 March, as they will be examined as part of the investigations."

Five other soldiers were wounded in the gun battle - three Canadian, one American and one Afghan.

An investigation could take weeks or months.

"Coalition military operations in Afghanistan are complex," said the statement.

"Terrain, weather and threat levels combine to create an extremely challenging operating environment. The fact the incident occurred at night, with attacks from multiple directions, just adds to the complexity."

If the friendly fire theory proves to be true, it would follow the deaths of four Canadian soldiers, who were killed in April 2002 when an American fighter jet mistakenly bombed their position in a night time training exercise near Kandahar.

indication of this was incinuated earlier; see: death stands out, neither an accident nor the random result of a bomb