Iraqi Kurds say Canadian soldier killed after ignoring order

A Canadian special forces soldier was killed and three others wounded in a friendly fire incident in northern Iraq, in the first fatality for the country during its current military mission there.

Canadian troops training local forces had just returned to an observation post at the front line on Friday night when they were mistakenly fired upon by Kurdish fighters, the military said. However, a spokesman for Kurdish forces in Iraq said the soldier, identified as Sergeant Andrew Joseph Doiron of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, was killed after he and others ignored an order to stay in their car and showed up to the front line village of Bashiq unannounced.

The area had seen heavy fighting against Islamic State militants. "When they returned, the peshmerga asked them to identify themselves," Hekmat said yesterday. "They answered in Arabic, that's when peshmerga started shooting."

Hekmat said he doesn't know why the Canadians were there.

The fact that Canadian special forces have been training and assisting on the front lines and directing air strikes has stirred controversy in Canada, but Canadian Defence Minister Jason Kenney earlier said the rules of engagement will remain the same.

Kenney said the killing had "nothing to do with combat", saying it was a case of mistaken identity on the part of Kurdish fighters at night.