Friendly-fire probe ends

last updated 8 January 2015

Ottawa

The Canadian government this week applauded the U.S. for filing manslaughter charges against two American fighter pilots who mistakenly killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. Investigators ruled that Maj. Harry Schmidt was reckless when he dropped a bomb on Canadian infantrymen training near Kandahar, despite having been instructed to “hold fire.” Schmidt’s commander, Maj. William Umbach, was accused of failing to stop him. The charges showed that the U.S. took the deaths “very seriously,” said Canadian Defense Minister John McCallum. Schmidt released a statement apologizing, and saying he “honestly and reasonably believed” the Canadians were shooting at him.