A Canadian was accidentally shot and killed by a fellow soldier in Afghanistan, military officials said Wednesday.
Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh, who was with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry from CFB Shilo in Manitoba, was shot and killed in what appears to have been an accidental discharge of a rifle.
Military sources confirm the gunshot that killed Walsh came from a fellow Canadian soldier.
Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh's death in Afghanistan on Wednesday is under investigation.
(Department of National Defence)
Walsh, who had arrived in Afghanistan six days earlier, had been involved in routine operations, just 20 kilometres west of Kandahar, when the accident occurred.
"Enemy action has been ruled out," according to a Defence Department news release.
Military officials would not say if Walsh was inside a vehicle at the time of the shooting.
Soldiers involved in the incident later came under Taliban mortar fire at a forward operating base in the area, although military officials say the two incidents are unrelated.
Death toll reaches 25 soldiers
Walsh is the sixth Canadian soldier to die in the past week and the 25th soldier killed in the mission in Afghanistan. His death is under investigation by the military's National Investigation Service.
In another incident, six Canadian soldiers were injured when their armoured vehicle slammed into a truck.
Two of the soldiers suffered more serious non-life-threatening injuries, while four others were treated and released from hospital.
On Saturday, a Canadian soldier was killed and three others injured in a traffic accident in southern Afghanistan.
Last Thursday, four Canadian soldiers were killed and 10 injured in attacks near Kandahar in one of the deadliest days for Canada so far in the military campaign in Afghanistan.
With files from the Canadian Press
Related
Internal Links
Video
- Carylon Dunn reports for CBC-TV (Runs: 1:33)
play: real »
play: real »
play: quicktime »
More World Headlines »
- Bush open to ideas on Iraq war as power shifts in U.S.
- U.S. President George Bush pledged Thursday to continue the war in Iraq, but said he is open to ideas on how the U.S. can gain the upper hand in the conflict.
- Olmert expresses regret, says 'technical error' killed 18 in Gaza
- The Israeli artillery barrage that killed 18 civilians in the Gaza Strip as they slept this week was caused by a "technical error," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday.
- Kenyan police regain control in violent Nairobi slum
- After five days of gang violence in a Nairobi slum that left at least seven people dead, Kenyan officials said on Thursday that calm has returned.
- Rumsfeld says he'll 'let history worry' about his legacy
- Former U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld showed flashes of his defiant and combative style on Thursday when questioned about his legacy, less than 24 hours after he resigned.
- Clinton weighs in on Afghanistan, U.S. elections
- Former U.S. president Bill Clinton offered his take on the war in Afghanistan and the midterm elections south of the border during two Canadian fundraisers Wednesday.