Costall killed instantly in Afghan firefight: CTV
CTV.ca News Staff
http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060404/friendly_fire_060404
Pte. Robert Costall took a direct hit to the head and was killed instantly during a firefight in Afghanistan last week, CTV News has learned from an eyewitness.
Meanwhile, military investigators are probing whether friendly fire played a role in the deaths of 22-year-old Costall, a machine gunner born in Thunder Bay, Ont., and Sgt. 1st Class John Stone, 52, a medic with the Vermont National Guard.
Five other soldiers were wounded -- including three Canadians -- and at least eight Afghan National Army soldiers died in the battle northwest of Kandahar.
Four of the five wounded soldiers have now returned to duty.
It's yet unclear whether possible friendly fire refers to Costall's death or to one of the other casualties.
The suggestion that friendly fire may have played a role in the deaths was raised following a preliminary review of the battle, but senior commanders refused to say on what evidence the notion was based.
"They'd come under a fairly heavy rain of fire from what appeared to be a coordinated attack involving mortars, RPGs, which are shoulder launched grenades, machine guns and small arms fire.," said Maj. Bill Fletcher, Costall's commanding officer.
A statement released by Canada's National Defence did not reveal what prompted the friendly fire suspicions, but acknowledged military operations in Afghanistan are "complex."
"Terrain, weather and threat levels combine to create an extremely challenging operating environment," the statement released at Kandahar Airfield read.
"The fact the incident occurred at night, with attacks from multiple directions, just adds to the complexity."
Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, commander of Task Force Afghanistan, said investigators had ruled out the possibility that soldiers died from fire coming from above, such as from the coalition aircraft that helped repel the Taliban attack.
"The possibility of friendly fire, I say the possibility, did not come from the air. It was not about bombs," he told reporters Tuesday.
"So we are now investigating where this possible friendly fire came from, but it was not from an aircraft of any type."
Costall and his wounded comrades were hurrying to reinforce one corner of the outpost when they came under ground fire outside the protection of the main area, said a coalition military source.
Costall's remains were flown to Vancouver on Tuesday.
On the trip from the airport to the ferry terminal, the fallen soldier's motorcade was honoured by saluting Mounties.
His final resting place will be at his boyhood home in Gibsons, on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast.
No confusion, commander insists
Meanwhile, a top American commander told The Canadian Press Tuesday that there was no confusion in the fatal firefight.
"I never use the word 'confused,'" said Brig.-Gen Anthony Tata when asked whether the tumult of last week's battle led to the soldiers' deaths.
"It was a tactical fight, led by the commander on the ground, that had the appropriate coalition forces to defend his base," said Tata, who is deputy joint commander for southern and eastern Afghanistan.
"The enemy attacked from multiple directions. We beat back the enemy, pursued the enemy and then killed the enemy," he said.
But retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie told CTV's Canada AM he believes friendly fire was "certainly explainable" in the context of a complex overnight battle.
"If I had to describe a more confusing situation, I probably couldn't do it," he said.
"A fight at night, out in a forward operating base, with relatively modest defence shell scrapes and holes in the ground. Fire is criss-crossing the position and unfortunately people are going to get hit."
McKenzie said people should remember that whatever the outcome of the friendly fire investigation, Canadian, U.S. and Afghan troops did repel the Taliban and caused significant enemy casualties.
"In my estimation, it's a combat casualty -- full stop."
The battle began last Tuesday in the Sangin district of Helmand province, about 110 km northwest of Kandahar.
Taliban insurgents attacked an Afghan army resupply convoy near a remote, desolate base -- described as no more than a sun-baked patch of land ringed with sand berms and razor wire.
A quick-reaction force of Canadians was called out as reinforcements and coalition commanders unleashed a torrent of air strikes, including British Harrier fighter bombers, American Apache helicopter gunships and B-52 bombers.
After a battle fought well into Wednesday morning, coalition troops hung on to the base, reportedly killing at least 30 Taliban insurgents.
'Unlike' friendly fire of 2002
Scott Taylor, editor of Esprit de Corps magazine, described the battle as "a very confusing situation."
Appearing on AM, Taylor said the incident was "unlike" the friendly fire tragedy of April 2002, when four Canadian soldiers were killed after an American fighter jet mistakenly bombed their position during a training exercise near Kandahar.
"The fight was in progress when the Canadians came in. They went in there as a rapid reaction force, it was nighttime," Taylor said.
"Unlike the April 2002 bombing, where combat was not taking place and it was a gross negligence on the part of a pilot."
Canadian, American and Afghan investigations will produce separate reports. There is no indication of how long the investigation will take, but it could take weeks or even months.
"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," the National Defence statement added.
A total of 11 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan since 2002.
Canadian troops have further reinforced the base in Helmand, which is a lawless, narcotics-infested area west of Kandahar.
With a report from CTV's Ellen Pinchuk
