Report out on friendly-fire death in Iraq

Kurds shot Canadian in night of tension, fatigue

OTTAWA — The four Canadian soldiers approached the Kurdish outpost in the darkness. They didn’t try to cover their movement. They were expected, after all.

Sgt. Andrew Joseph Doiron was leading the special forces team.

The 31-year-old native of Moncton, N.B., known as Drew to his comrades, had been in northern Iraq since September, one of dozens of Canadian commandos helping the Kurds in their fight against ISIL.

This particular outpost had been attacked the night before. Several ISIL fighters had been killed, but the Kurds had also suffered losses.

During a visit earlier in the day, the Canadians had been asked to help strengthen the position. Doiron’s team had agreed to return later that night.

But the Canadians didn’t know that a different group of Kurdish fighters had moved into the position after they’d left. This new group, tired, jittery and expecting another ISIL attack, didn’t know the Canadians would be visiting.

In the darkness, Doiron and the others spotted a Kurdish fighter on a rooftop to their left. The Kurd saw them as Doiron called out a preapproved greeting, a code word of sorts to let the other man know they were on the same side. The Canadians heard the chilling sound of a weapon being cocked in reply.

“Wow, wow, wow, Canada!” Doiron called out. The Kurd opened fire, hitting the sergeant and sending the other Canadians diving for cover. Soon, a machine-gun began firing from the Kurdish outpost.

With Doiron down, every time his comrades tried coming to his aid, the Kurds would open fire until all four Canadians had been hit.

The Canadians did not return fire. Finally, the Kurds realized their mistake. They quickly gathered Doiron and his team into vehicles and rushed them to where a helicopter could evacuate them.

A short time later, Doiron died of his wounds, becoming the first Canadian soldier killed in the war against ISIL. One of his comrades was lucky to survive.

Canadian military officials on Tuesday delivered this extraordinary account of the friendly fire incident that killed Doiron as they released a summary of two separate investigations that blamed “mistaken identity and a breakdown in communication in a setting characterized by tension, fatigue and confusion.”

After Doiron was killed, a Kurdish commander alleged the Canadians answered in Arabic, “leading the peshmerga to believe they were (ISIL) militants, and shot them.”

But investigators concluded Doiron “performed his job to the highest standards both prior to and throughout the incident,” and the Canadians “conducted their operations appropriately and in concert with all pre-approved and accepted protocols.” The report also says “no Arabic was spoken by (Doiron’s team) on the approach to the final position that night.”

Speaking to reporters upon the summary report’s release, Canadian special forces commander Brig.-Gen. Mike Rouleau said the Kurds at the outpost that night were “legitimately concerned about an additional attack by ISIL, similar to the one they’d experienced the night before.”

Rouleau said Canadian soldiers in Iraq may move at night now only when escorted by a Kurdish soldier.

“Our presence at or near the forward positions remains the exception and definitely not the rule.”

Accepting the investigators’ report, Defence Minister Jason Kenney said the government aims to reduce accidental deaths while helping its allies against ISIL’s terror.