A Canadian special forces soldier was killed and three more injured in Iraq when their Kurdish allies accidentally opened fire on them, the military said Saturday, according to AFP.
General Tom Lawson, chief of Canadian defense staff, identified the slain soldier as Sergeant Andrew Joseph Doiron, whose regiment is in Iraq to train and advise Kurdish forces.
"He was a gifted special operator and a great leader," said Brigadier General Michael Rouleau, head of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.
"Our thoughts are also with our three injured operators. We will bring Drew home with all dignity and wrap our arms around our injured Brothers and we will carry on with our important mission in Iraq."
Canada has around 600 personnel, including 69 special forces operators, in Iraq as part of an international coalition aiding local forces in the battle against Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists.
Their mission is not to engage in direct ground combat themselves, but they have clashed with ISIS fighters on at least two occasions.
In this incident, however, the Canadian military said they were "mistakenly engaged by Iraqi Kurdish forces following their return to an observation post behind the front lines."
"Four Canadian advisers in Bashiqa headed to the front line. On their way back, the peshmerga (forces) did not recognize them, and shot toward them," Iraqi Kurdish security spokesman Halgord Hekmat told AFP.
"They went to the front line without the peshmerga's knowledge," he said.
Canada sent some 600 air crew and other military personnel -- as well as six fighter jets and other military aircraft -- to the region in November to participate in the air strikes against the Islamic State.
The Canadian deployment is due to end in April, unless parliament votes to extend the mission.