OTTAWA – The dramatic WikiLeaks report contains details of what appears to be a previously unknown "friendly fire" incident in Afghanistan in which it says four Canadians were killed and seven were injured.
The incident may have occurred the same day, Sept. 3, 2006, as four Canadians were officially reported killed by Taliban insurgents – not by their own side in the conflict.
In its report the anti-secrecy group refers to a "friendly fire" incident in which soldiers received small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades from a building, returned fire and dropped a guided bomb, heavily damaging the building.
"Casualties 4xCND KIA 4xCDN WIA," the report says, meaning four Canadians killed in action and four wounded. A few minutes later, wounded had increased to seven Canadians and one Afghan civilian interpreter.
The Department of National Defence in Ottawa said Monday the loss of four Canadian soldiers on Sept. 3, 2006, was the result of insurgent activity in Afghanistan’s Panjwai district.
"At all times, the Canadian Forces have been open and forthright with the families of our fallen soldiers and the Canadian public about the circumstances relating to deaths in Afghanistan," said Jay Paxton, spokesman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay, in a statement released Monday.
"The only friendly fire incident from the time period in question occurred on September 4th, 2006 when Private Mark Anthony Graham was killed in the same district."
September was a devastating month for the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan, where 10 soldiers lost their lives.
Afghanistan-war analyst Janice Stein said there are more friendly fire incidents than ever make it into the public domain because officials do not go back and correct themselves if they find an incident was friendly fire – not enemy fire as first announced.
"I’d be very surprised if it was deliberately hidden," said Stein, director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.
She also cautioned the WikiLeaks report is a partial record.
WikiLeaks released more than 90,000 secret documents about the Afghan war between 2004 and December 2009. They also include accusations that U.S. ally Pakistan is helping the Taliban.
The WikiLeaks report also made public information that Washington wanted Canada to join the U.S. in rebuking (or demarching) on South Africa and Saudi Arabia over concerns about fundraising for the Taliban in those countries.
In the May 2007 memo, Yves Beaulieu, deputy director with the Department of Foreign Affairs, is described as "acting positively" to the suggestion from a U.S. diplomat.
"Beaulieu said although he was not surprised to hear of (U.S. government) concern about Taliban fundraising in South Africa and Saudi Arabia, the Government of Canada would need more information about specific (U.S. government) concerns before they could agree to jointly demarche other governments or independently demarche the (United Arab Emirates)."
"If the (U.S. government) shares this information with the Government of Canada, Beaulieu believes it is likely that his superiors will agree to the proposed demarches," the memo says.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon also expressed concern Monday that some of the information in what WikiLeaks calls the "War Diary" could endanger Canadian troops.
At the same time Cannon declined to comment on any individual reports and he said Canada has been totally transparent about this country’s war involvement.
"Our government is concerned obviously that operational leaks could endanger the lives of our men and women in Afghanistan," Cannon said at a news conference called on another issue.
"We haven’t misled the Canadian public in any way, shape or form . . . This is a document that is leaked by officials in the United States, I understand, or documents to that effect; we will not comment on these documents."
There is only one friendly fire incident on the public record from that week in September 2006.
Canadian, Pte. Mark Anthony Graham, was killed by U.S. aircraft mistakenly firing on a Canadian platoon on Sept. 4, 2006.
The incident in which four Canadians were officially said to be killed by hostile fire was Sept. 3 when military officials said insurgents disabled multiple Canadian vehicles with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.
With a file from Amy Minsky
A list of Canada’s Afghan war dead from Sept. 2006
– Sept. 3: Four soldiers – Warrant Officer Richard Francis Nolan, Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish, Sgt. Shane Stachnik and Pte. William Jonathan James Cushley, all based at CFB Petawawa, west of Ottawa, were killed as insurgents disabled multiple Canadian vehicles with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Nine others were wounded in the fighting that killed an estimated 200 Taliban members.
– Sept. 4: Pte. Mark Anthony Graham, a member of 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based at CFB Petawawa, Ont., killed and dozens of others wounded in a friendly fire incident involving an American A-10 Warthog aircraft. Graham was a Canadian Olympic team member in 1992, when he raced as a member of the 4 x 400 metre relay team.
– Sept. 18: Four soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber riding a bicycle detonated explosives in the Panjwaii area. Cpl. Shane Keating, Cpl. Keith Morley and Pte. David Byers, 22, all members of 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry from Shilo, Man., and Cpl. Glen Arnold, a member of 2 Field Ambulance, from Petawawa, Ont., were killed in the attack that wounded several others.
– Sept. 29: Pte. Josh Klukie was killed by an improvised explosive device while he was conducting a foot patrol in a farm field in the Panjwaii district. Klukie, of Thunder Bay, Ont., was serving in the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment.
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