US pilots on manslaughter charge over 'friendly fire'

Two American F-16 pilots have been charged with manslaughter over a "friendly fire" incident in Afghanistan in which four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded.

They are the first US military personnel to be charged in the Afghanistan campaign, where there have been a series of erroneous attacks.

The Pentagon said Major Harry Schmidt and Major William Umbach, both members of the Illinois Air National Guard, faced four counts of manslaughter and eight counts of aggravated assault as well as dereliction of duty. The two men have been recalled to active duty to face the charges.

The charges were filed on Wednesday by Air Force Brigadier-General Stephen Sargeant, who was co-director of a joint US-Canadian board that investigated the circumstances of the incident, which happened in April near the southern city of Kandahar.

"These charges are only accusations," the Pentagon said in a statement. "Both officers are presumed innocent."

Yesterday, Lloyd Smith, father of Nathan Smith, one of the Canadians killed, said from his home in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, that he was not surprised the pilots had been charged but that he had not been expecting the severity of the charges. "I hope that as this investigation and what looks to be a trial now goes forward, we will receive some closure to this," he said. "The issue we really don't know is why [it happened]. The only ones who can answer that is the pilots."

Joyce Clooney, the grandmother of Richard Green, another soldier killed, said the charges against Major Schmidt were unimportant to her. "I don't want him to go to prison," she said. "I just want him to not be able to fly planes again, not carry bombs and to admit that he was at fault and the innocent fellows, they weren't killed by the enemies. Sending him to prison, that won't bring the boys back. As long as he loses his career, then surely his conscience will take care of the rest."

The incident on 17 April was the worst case of "friendly fire" during the campaign. The Canadians, members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, were killed or injured when Major Schmidt dropped a 500lb laser-guided bomb on their position. Major Schmidt mistook the troops, who were involved in a night-time live firing exercise, for hostile forces. Major Umbach was his flight commander.

The incident has caused uproar in Canada. Last month The Independent reported how American pilots in Afghanistan were routinely provided with amphetamines to tackle fatigue and help them fly longer hours. Pilots were allowed to self-regulate their doses and kept the drugs in their cockpits.

Whether Major Schmidt had taken amphetamines – which some observers believe may have made pilots paranoid and "trigger-happy" – is not known, though he had flown three hours from Kuwait to the combat zone and faced a three-hour flight back afterwards. His lawyer was unavailable for comment yesterday .

The charges against the two men are being reviewed by Lt General Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force. He has three main options: dismiss charges, prosecute the men in a general court martial, or convene what the military calls a special court martial.

The Pentagon said that the dereliction of duty charge against Major Schmidt was for failing to exercise appropriate flight discipline and not complying with the US military's rules for firing weapons in Afghanistan. The similar charge against Major Umbach was for negligently failing to exercise appropriate flight command and control.