8. 6. Controversies of the War

There have been a number of controversies during the years of the war, including cases of friendly fire:

• In the Tarnak Farm incident of April 18, 2002, four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight others injured when U.S. Air National Guard Major Harry Schmidt, dropped a laser-guided 227 kilogram (500 lb) bomb from his F-16 jet fighter on the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry conducting a night firing exercise near Kandahar. Schmidt was charged with negligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, and dereliction of duty. He was found guilty of the latter charge, was fined nearly $5,700 in pay and was reprimanded. During testimony Schmidt blamed the incident on his use of "go pills" (authorized mild stimulants), combined with the 'fog of war'. The Canadian dead received US medals for "bravery", but no apology.

• On 5 December 2006, an F/A-18C on a Close Air Support mission in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, mistakenly attacked a trench where British Royal Marines were dug-in during a 10-hour battle with Taliban fighters, killing one Royal Marine.

• Pat Tillman, former famous American football player is shot by American fire in April 2004. The subsequent cover-up and untruths told regarding his death provoke a bigger outrage than the actual incident. The Army Special Operations Command investigation conducted by Brigadier General Jones, the U.S. Department of Defense concluded that Pat Tillman's death was due to friendly fire aggravated by the intensity of the firefight. A more thorough investigation concluded that no hostile forces were involved in the firefight and that two allied groups fired on each other in confusion after a nearby explosive device was detonated.

• Operation Medusa (2006): 1 - Two U.S. A-10 Thunderbolts accidentally strafed NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, killing Canadian Private Mark Anthony Graham.

• A USAF F-15 called in to support British ground forces in Afghanistan drops a bomb on those forces due to incorrect coordinates given to the pilot by a British Forward Air Controller. 3 privates of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment, were killed and two others were severely injured. The British Forward Air Controller is now facing manslaughter charges.

• A statement issued jointly by the American and the Afghan military commands said a contingent of Afghan police officers fired on United States forces on 10 December 2008 after the Americans had successfully overrun the hide-out, killing the suspected Taliban commander and detaining another man. The US forces after securing the hideout came under heavy small arms fire and explosive grenades from the Afghan Police forces. "Multiple attempts to deter the engagement were unsuccessful," and the US forces returned fire. Afghan police have stated that they came under fire first and that the initial firing on the US forces came from the building next to the police station. This has lead the US forces to conclude that the Afghan police forces might have been compromised. Initial reports indicate this was a tragic case of mistaken identity on both parts.

• British soldiers in operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, fired Javelin anti-tank missiles at Danish soldiers from The Royal Life Guards, killing two. It is also confirmed from Danish forces that the British fired a total of 6-8 heat-seeking Javelin missiles, over a 1 1/2 hour period and only after the attack was completed did they realize that the missiles were British, based upon the fragments found after the incident.

• Of two helicopters called in to support operations by the British Grenadier Guards and Afghan National Army forces in Helmand, the British Westland WAH-64 Apache engaged enemy forces, while the accompanying American AH-64D Apache opened fire on the Grenadiers and Afghan troops.

• A British Military Police officer was shot dead by a fellow British soldier while on patrol.

• Nine British soldiers from the 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment were injured, after being fired upon by British Army Apache Helicopter while on patrol in Afghanistan July 9, 2008

• LCpl Ford, from Zulu Company of 45 Commando Royal Marines, died after receiving a gunshot wound in Afghanistan on January 15, 2007, which was later found to be due to friendly fire. The final inquest has ruled he died from NATO rounds from a fellow Royal Marine machine gun. The report added there was no "negligence" by the gunman, who had made a "momentary error of judgment".

• The incident happened on Friday night near the city of Kunduz, where there is a major Nato base. A German armoured personnel carrier was en route to reinforce troops on a bridge-building and mine-clearing mission at Chahar Dara, southwest of Kunduz city. They had been engaged in a fierce battle with Taliban fighters, suffering three fatalities and eight wounded, four of them seriously. The German military said German soldiers were rushing from Kunduz to the scene of the fighting when they encountered two civilian vehicles and demanded that they stop. When they did not, a German armoured personnel carrier opened fire on them.