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A Canadian commando was killed Friday after Kurdish Peshmerga fighters mistook Canadian soldiers for Islamic militants, opening fire on them as they approached a checkpoint at night.

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Sgt. Andrew Joseph Doiron was killed and three others injured in the incident in northern Iraq. The soldiers were members of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment that is based in Petawawa. Doiron, 31, was born in Moncton, N.B., military sources say.

Peshmerga Commander Mosa Gardi told the Kurdish news agency Basnews that the wounded Canadians had been taken by helicopter to a hospital in Irbil.

He said the incident took place at night when there was intensive fighting between Peshmerga and gunmen from the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS).

“During fighting the Canadian advisers left their vehicle and walked to the area,” he told Basnews.

“They got very close to the fighting without our co-ordination and when the Peshmerga saw them, they asked who they were. The Canadians answered in Arabic, leading the Peshmerga to believe they were IS militants, and shot them.”