Canadian soldier thought insurgent was already dead
By Andrew Duffy, Ottawa CitizenApril 20, 2010
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A member of Capt. Robert Semrau's mentoring team told a court martial that he did not offer first aid to a downed Taliban fighter because he thought the man was already dead.
Semrau, 36, of Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, faces four charges in the case, including second-degree murder. The father of two young girls has pleaded not guilty on all counts.
Warrant Officer Merlin Longaphie was the first Canadian soldier to see the insurgent, who had been shot during a firefight on the morning of Oct. 19, 2008.
The firefight erupted in the early hours of an operation to clear a swath of ground next to the Helmand River.
Semrau's four-man team was embedded with an Afghan battalion, which led the operation.
The prosecutor, Capt. Tom Fitzgerald, asked Longaphie why he didn't offer first aid to the downed Taliban fighter given that military rules require soldiers to collect and treat the wounded.
"At that time, I didn't feel there was a need for me to go over there," Longaphie testified. "Visually, from what I perceived to be a dead Taliban, I didn't think there was any need to go to confirm whether he was dead or alive."
Prosecutors allege the insurgent was still alive, and that shortly after Longaphie left the scene, Semrau fired two shots into the man's chest.
Longaphie, a 25-year military veteran, earlier told court about the confusion that marked the early hours of the Helmand operation.
The Canadian mentoring team, he said, encountered a chaotic scene at the planned line of departure. Afghan National Army forces were there along with Afghan National Police and border officers.
"The ANP and border police were literally running all over the place," he told the court martial.
The Canadians found the Afghan army company to which they were attached, then began to move along the Helmand River.
About an hour into the mission, Longaphie and another Canadian soldier, Cpl. Tony Haraszta, near the front of the Afghan company, came under enemy fire.
Semrau and his battlefield partner, Pte. Steven Fournier, were somewhere behind them.
The soldiers hunkered down for about five minutes beside a handful of Afghan soldiers, then decided to make a run for a tall cornfield nearby. Gunfire followed them.
"It didn't stop us from running," Longaphie said, "but it scared the bejesus out of me."
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