U.S bomb falls on Canadians

WASHINGTON -- An American fighter jet mistakenly dropped at least one laser-guided bomb on Canadian forces in Afghanistan during a live-fire training exercise Wednesday. Canadian officials said four soldiers were killed and eight were injured.\nNavy 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.\nNeither U.S. nor Canadian officials had information about what caused the error. The countries plan a joint investigation.\n"How this can happen is a mystery to us. Without a doubt, there was a misidentification," Canada\'s defense chief, Lt. Gen. Ray Henault told reporters in Ottawa.\nCanadian Defense officials said their soldiers were on a nighttime training exercise about 10 miles south of their Kandahar base when the bombing occurred.\nHenault said the area is recognized as a training area and the aircraft were using very strictly controlled routes.\nSix soldiers, including one who was seriously injured, will be evacuated to an American medical facility. Two other soldiers suffered minor injuries.\nPrime Minister Jean Chretien said President Bush had called to offer his condolences and pledged to cooperate with a Canadian investigation.\n"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 have answered," Chretien said in a statement.\nThere was no immediate word from the White House on the accident.\nCanadian forces are fighting alongside U.S. and European troops seeking to hunt down remnants of Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization and holdouts from Afghanistan's former ruling Taliban militia.\nThe bombing is among the worst friendly fire accidents since the U.S.-led campaign began in October.\nOn Dec. 5, a B-52A dropped a bomb on U.S. 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 isn't complete, but officials have said there were errors in transmitting target coordinates to the B-52.\nOn Dec. 22, U.S. aircraft struck a convoy near Khost, killing dozens of Afghans. Some Afghans say the convoy was carrying tribal leaders to Karzai's inauguration, but U.S. military commanders insist it was a legitimate target.