Solider Died From Insurgent Fire, Not Security Contractor Shots

A Canadian soldier killed during a confusing gun battle in Zhari district last month died from insurgent fire and not an errant bullet from a passing private security convoy, military officials said Saturday.

An investigation into the August 9 death of Master Cpl. Josh Roberts found Compass Integrated Security Solutions was present when he was shot but that its Afghan employees were not responsible for his death.

“Based on the physical evidence, witness interviews and analysis by the Military Police investigators, the investigation concluded that his death was inflicted by the insurgents,” military officials said in a news release.

An investigation by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service was launched following reports that an Afghan security contractor may have opened fire while Canadian and Afghan troops were engaging insurgents and could have been responsible for Roberts’ death.

Whether the security contractor did in fact open fire at all remains unclear.

The soon-to-be father and member of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry based in Shilo, Man. died while taking part in a joint operation involving the battlegroup, Afghan forces and their Canadian mentors.

Troops were embroiled in a skirmish with about 15 insurgents along a rugged tract of farmland, a known Taliban hotbed, not far from the main highway when the incident occurred.

The troops set out early to take advantage of the cooler temperatures but it wasn’t until about 9 a.m. that bullets began to fly.

The Afghan forces and their Canadian mentors set out on foot across two wadis to form a block on either side while members of the battlegroup drove south from an outpost on the main highway.

Grape farmers who’d been toiling in their fields and women and children from area villages quickly fled the battlefield shortly before small arms gunfire, rocket propelled grenades and 82 millimetre recoilless rifle rounds littered the scorched countryside.

Canadian troops fired back from their armoured vehicles and called in artillery strikes as Canadian mentor teams on the ground hunkered down for cover, some of them waist deep in water.

Troops soon realized they were also being fired on from the north and at one point there was even concern the battlegroup may have lost track of their allies’ position and were firing frighteningly close to their position.

It was thought that the private security company, which was escorting a civilian convoy, was heading west along the main highway when it spotted a battle taking place and opened fire, perhaps after feeling threatened and not realizing Canadian troops were already there engaging insurgents.

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