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CNN Live At Daybreak

Deadly Accident Happens Overnight in Kandahar

Aired April 18, 2002 - 05:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And now we want to go live to Afghanistan for more on a deadly accident that killed four Canadian soldiers.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote is at the airport in Kandahar -- Ryan, what happened?

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a deadly accident it was that happened overnight here in Kandahar. A friendly fire incident where a U.S. war plane opened fire on Canadian troops on the ground.

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MAJ. BRYAN HILFERTY, U.S. ARMY: At approximately 1:55 a.m. this morning, a U.S. Air National Guard F-16 dropped one or two 500 pound bombs on our Canadian allies operating near Kandahar. There were dead and wounded among the Canadians.

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CHILCOTE: We now know that four Canadians were killed in that accident and eight were injured, some of them very seriously, when that U.S. fighter jet, actually an F-16, opened fire on the Canadians, who were engaged in a live fire exercise just south of the Kandahar Air Base here in Afghanistan.

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GEN. RAY HENAULT, CANADIAN CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF: The battle group was conducting a regular live fire training exercise, a nightmare live fire training exercise in an area that's recognized as a training area. The aircraft that are over flying and assisting operations in Afghanistan are operating on well recognized and very well controlled routes and under very strict control. How this sort of thing can happen is a mystery to us. That's what the investigation will determine. I can't speculate on it at this point in time. All I can say to you is that without a doubt there was a misidentification of the Canadians and what they were doing on the ground and that was obviously the cause of this accident.

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CHILCOTE: And the speculation here at the Kandahar Airport is rife that the fighter, the jet pilot may have misinterpreted or misidentified the Canadian troops on the ground, their fire in that live fire exercisers as hostile fire and opened up fire on them. However, that is speculation. That is unconfirmed and that is exactly what the very thorough investigation one would imagine is about to begin is going to find under, is going to uncover -- back to you.

COSTELLO: Ryan, I just have a couple of questions. These bombs that were dropped, they're quite big, 500 pounds, right?

CHILCOTE: That's right. These are very deadly bombs. The U.S. Air Force and the Navy use these and obviously it's not something that you would want to fall on friendly troops -- back to you.

COSTELLO: How many Canadian troops are over there?

CHILCOTE: Well, there are about, upwards of 900 Canadian soldiers here at the Kandahar Air Base. They, like they're standing side by side with U.S. forces here. Primarily up until now they've been securing the perimeter of this base or serving a role as securing the area and that's what they're doing here. This is the Canadian contribution to the war on terror in Afghanistan -- back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, Ryan Chilcote, thank you very much for that live report from Afghanistan this morning.

You know, today's accident south of Kandahar brings the number of friendly fire deaths among Western nations in Afghanistan to 14. On Tuesday, four U.S. troops were killed and one badly injured while blowing up unexploded ammunition. And back on December 5, remember, three U.S. special forces soldiers were killed when a B-52 mistakenly dropped a one ton satellite guided bomb. The B-52 had been called in for close air support while the special forces troops were taking mortar fire from Taliban positions.

Pentagon officials believe the wrong coordinates were given or entered on the plane or there was a system malfunction. Six Afghan soldiers were also killed in the incident north of Kandahar.

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