Rogue U.S. Soldier Kills 15 Afghans in Kandahar
Fifteen Afghans were killed by a rogue American soldier who walked off his base and opened fire on them in their homes in the early hours of Sunday, Afghan and Western sources said.
The toll could not be independently confirmed, but NATO's International Security Assistance Force said it has arrested a soldier "in connection to an incident that resulted in Afghan casualties in Kandahar province.”
An elder from Najeeban village in Panjwayi district, Haji Samad, told Agence France Presse: "Eleven members of my family are dead. They are all dead."
Haji Sayed Jan from Alkozai village said: "My home was attacked and I lost four family members."
A spokesman for the provincial governor, Ahmed Jawed Faysal, said earlier that at least eight people had been killed when the soldier walked off his base at around 3:00 am and started shooting.
This version of events -- but not the death toll -- was confirmed by a Western official.
"A soldier walks off the base in the early hours Sunday morning and starts shooting. He got back to the office and was detained," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"This is a deeply regrettable incident and we extend our thoughts and concerns to the families involved," ISAF said.
The U.S. embassy in Kabul also issued a statement extending "its deepest condolences to the families of the victims of today's tragic shooting incident in Kandahar province.
"We are saddened by this violent act against our Afghan friends. We deplore any attack by a member of the U.S. Armed Forces against innocent civilians, and denounce all violence against civilians.
"We assure the people of Afghanistan that the individual or individuals responsible for this act will be identified and brought to justice."
The incident comes just weeks after the burning of Korans at a military base ignited violent anti-U.S. protests in which some 40 people died, plunging relations between foreign forces and their Afghan allies to an all-time low.
During the protests, six American troops were killed when Afghan soldiers turned their weapons on their allies.
But there was no word on what might have motivated the soldier's actions.
The shooting is likely to increase tensions as Washington and Kabul negotiate a long-term strategic partnership deal governing their relations after U.S.-led combat troops pull out in 2014.
The treaty would likely cover the legal status of U.S. troops remaining in the country after 2014 to help Kabul with intelligence, air power and logistics in the fight against the insurgents.
In Iraq, Washington abandoned its pursuit of a strategic partnership deal and pulled out all its troops, leaving no residual force, after failing to get Baghdad to grant its soldiers legal immunity.
Afghan resentment of U.S. forces was also provoked by a video posted online in January showing U.S. Marines urinating on the bloodied corpses of slain Afghan insurgents -- an incident condemned by the Pentagon.
And in November, the ringleader of a rogue American military "kill team" charged with murder for allegedly shooting civilians for sport was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison by a military panel.
Of the 60 NATO troops killed so far this year, 18 percent -- almost one in five -- have died at the hands of Afghan colleagues, including four French and an Albanian, as well as the six Americans.
Kandahar is a stronghold of Taliban insurgents fighting to oust the government of President Hamid Karzai, which is supported by some 130,000 U.S.-led NATO troops.
Source: Agence France Presse
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