Friendly fire incident at Sangin The Friendly Fire incident at Sangin was a military incident that took place on March 29 , 2006 . Afghan militants mounted an assault on a forward operating base in Helmand province near the town of Lashkagar , which had been opened only six weeks earlier and was staffed by 100 ANA soldiers and their American trainers , using small arms fire , rocket - propelled grenade s , and mortars . While eight Afghan soldiers were killed in the initial assault , an American soldier was killed and another wounded , a Canadian soldier was killed and three more wounded , and another Afghan soldier was wounded following a friendly fire incident in which an American soldier manning a Humvee - mounted 7 . 62mm gun fired on their positions . Convoy attacked . The fighting began when the militants attacked an Afghan National Army re - supply convoy on Highway 611 near FOB Robinson , killing two soldiers . Although the locally - contracted convoy was unknown to Coalition troops prior to its reporting of contact with insurgents , two British Harrier aircraft were dispatched from Kandahar Airfield , along with a pair of American Apache gunships . After the militants were scattered two hours after the fighting began , the convoy was hit a short distance later by an improvised explosive device along the roadside , killing six soldiers , and was stranded 9 – 13 miles from the base . At approximately 10 : 00 p . m . , a Quick Reaction Force , made up of 38 men comprising 7 Platoon of C Company of 1st Battalion , Princess Patricia ' s Canadian Light Infantry , was deployed from the airfield in American helicopters , to escort the convoy back to its base . Base attacked . Four hours later , with the convoy and Canadian escort now resting in the base , the American forces conducted a defensive patrol and determined that " there ' s no way they ' ll hit us tonight " , referring to their belief that the 80 - vehicle convoy and new troop presence would deter the insurgents . The militants resurfaced in the hills to the west of the base , the ruins of a mud house to the north , and the poppy fields to the south , and began firing their AK - 47 s and RPGs . American Sergeant John T . Stone was shot in the torso , possibly by friendly fire . The first Canadian to die in actual combat in the war , Private Robert Costall was laying down cover fire with his C - 9 from beneath a small berm together with Chris Fernandez - Ledon . He was shot once through the back of the head , and once in the chest . Master Warrant Officer Ray Brodeur was shot in the leg and the midriff , and two other Canadians were also wounded , as was an American – all from a single American Humvee which fired 3 – 5 bursts at friendly positions before being ordered to cease fire when it was realised he was firing on friendly forces . American B - 52 bombers then dropped bombs on the militant positions , bringing their estimated dead to 30 , and effectively ending the battle . Aftermath . Three separate investigations were launched within a day of the battle , by the American Combined Joint Task Force 76 who ordered an AR - 15 investigation , the American Criminal Investigation Detachment and the Canadian National Investigation Service . Canada also launched a board of inquiry , which determined all four Canadians had indeed been shot as a result of friendly fire from an American HMMWV . The two gun barrel s from the vehicle were seized by American military investigators as part of a criminal investigation . Following an external examination by Lieutenant Commander Clifford at Kandahar Airfield , Costall ' s remains were sent back to Canada , where the Chief Coroner of Ontario performed an autopsy on April 2 , 2006 . The bullets extracted from his body were turned over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police forensics laboratory in Halifax , and found to be consistent with 7 . 62 mm rounds . Following the battle , the 1st PPCLI launched " a response " by moving in to take control of Taliban - controlled poppy fields through Operation Ketara .