Omar El Akkad

KANDAHAR — Globe and Mail update
Last updated on Wednesday, Jul. 22, 2009 05:02PM EDT


.Canadian soldiers likely killed a young girl in Afghanistan's Panjwayi district Tuesday after a warning shot they fired at an incoming motorcycle ricocheted off the ground and hit her instead.

An hour later, in the Dand district south of Kandahar City, another set of Canadian soldiers on patrol opened fire on a vehicle carrying members of the Afghan national police. The vehicle was travelling towards the soldiers and had no headlights, according to the Canadian Forces. One police officer suffered serious gunshot injuries, and two others suffered less serious injuries.

Canadian troops were conducting a foot patrol in the volatile Panjwayi region Tuesday around 6:55 p.m. when a motorcycle approached them at high speed, according to military spokesman Major Mario Couture.

“The soldiers made every attempt to signal for the motorcycle not to approach any closer but the motorcycle continued to speed towards the patrol,” he said.

The soldiers then fired a warning shot at the ground near the motorcycle. Instead of stopping, the driver turned and drove away.

Moments after the warning shot was fired the patrol noticed a crowd of Afghans had gathered,” Maj. Couture said. “Upon investigation it was discovered that an Afghan girl had been mortally injured by what appeared to be a gunshot wound.”

Canadian soldiers attempted to conduct first aid on the child, but she succumbed to her injuries.

The Afghan National Police and the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service have launched an investigation into the incident. Maj. Couture said it has not been confirmed that the bullets fired by the Canadian soldiers are the same ones that killed the girl, but “the balance of probabilities” suggests this is the case.

“This is an absolute tragedy that an innocent child was killed,” Maj. Couture said.

In many cases where Canadians have injured or killed civilians, Canada has paid compensation to the victims' families. Maj. Couture would not comment on whether compensation would be paid to the girl's relatives.

In a second incident at around 7:50 p.m., soldiers in Dand district saw a vehicle approaching them, also at high speed. The vehicle had no headlights, Maj. Couture said, adding that the Canadians tried to get the car to stop by flashing their own light signals. When that didn't work, they fired at the car. It was only later that the Canadian soldiers realized Afghan police officers were in the vehicle. The injured soldiers were taken to the hospital in Kandahar airfield.

After a quiet period that saw no “escalation of force” incidents since March of this year, there have now been three in less than a week. Last Friday, Canadian soldiers opened fire on a van carrying four Afghan men. The van's driver had ignored or not seen various directives to stop, and soldiers eventually began shooting, killing one man and injuring three. The Canadian military suspects the men were testing how far the soldiers were willing to go to get a vehicle to stop, possibly as a form of planning for a subsequent suicide attack. No weapons or explosives were found in the van.

There has been a concerted effort by NATO troops here in recent months to limit civilian casualties as much as possible, based on a recognition that every civilian killed turns public opinion against western troops, incites more people to support or join the insurgency and ultimately results in a more dangerous working environment for NATO soldiers. General Stanley McCrystal, commander of the U.S. troops in Afghanistan, recently issued new guidelines that greatly limited the kinds of situations in which U.S. soldiers can call in air strikes.