A report says a veteran Canadian non-commissioned officer was sent home from Afghanistan after an incident that some of his troops characterize as desertion.

Several members of the 1st Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment's Charlie Company told The Globe and Mail they were abandoned while pinned down by heavy Taliban fire on Sept. 3. Four Canadians soldiers died that day in fierce battles with insurgents.

One soldier told the Globe in an interview in southern Afghanistan that his superior hid behind a wall and left him there to die. The Globe chose note to identify the NCO.

He was later returned home and is now out of the army.

Canadian military spokesman Lt.-Cmdr. Kris Phillips says he can't substantiate the report. He does say though that the officer did suffer injuries on that day and, as a result, was medically repatriated and decided to "take his release a little later on.''

Phillips says there were no charges laid or disciplinary action taken against the officer.

Maj. Matthew Sprague, who commands Charlie Company, would not discuss the soldier with the Globe, except to say that the soldier is now out of the army and that the alleged incident that led to his leaving is "in the past, as far as I'm concerned."

Master Cpl. Ward Engley of Charlie Company's 8 platoon told the Globe that the NCO was "hiding behind a wall" while they came under fire and wouldn't come out long enough to give him the radio when he asked for it. He alleged the officer "left me there to die."  

"Our grenades were duds," Engley explained, "and we were running low on ammo, but he couldn't even hand me the radio."

The Globe says three other soldiers gave similar stories, including two of those who were pinned down by heavy fire when the NCO is alleged to have left his post.

He "basically deserted, left the section while a couple of guys were pinned down," alleged another soldier, Lt. Jeremy Hiltz.

The battle was part of the NATO kickoff to Operation Medusa, a massive offensive targeting a Taliban stronghold in the volatile Panjwaii area.

Five Canadians lost their lives during the operation, and dozens more were wounded, including Sprague who was hit by shrapnel during a friendly fire incident on Sept. 4, the day after the gunfight.

Sprague, like many of the wounded soldiers, returned to action immediately after recovering from injury.

The Globe and Mail's Christie Blatchford, who reported the story, says that, in a way, she has sympathy for the NCO involved.

"This incident and the name of this man are well-known at the base in Petawawa and in the sort of soldier community already," she told CTV Newsnet. "So I'm sure that he is suffering.

"I feel very badly for him, actually," she added, noting that an incident such as the one she described "happens in war. It always has."