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KABUL— An American soldier wandered outside his base in a remote
southern Afghan village shortly before dawn Sunday and opened fire on
civilians inside homes, killing at least 16, Afghan and U.S. officials
said.
The attack marked perhaps the grisliest act by a U.S. soldier in the
decade-long Afghan war and seemed all but certain to stoke anti-
American anger in a crucial battleground as foreign troops start to
thin out in the south. Afghan officials said women and children were
among those killed in Panjwai district of Kandahar Province, the
birthplace of the Taliban movement.
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Gallery
March 2012: Our continuing photo coverage shows Afghan life as
coalition forces fight in the country.
Gallery
February 2012: Crowds of Afghans protest reports of burning of Koran
while U.S. officials step up outreach and apologize.
Coming as Afghan rage over last month’s burning of Korans by U.S.
soldiers was beginning to taper off, the killings threatened to spark
a new crisis in the strained relationship between Washington and
Kabul. The two nations are in the midst of contentious negotiations
over an agreement that could extend the presence of U.S. troops in the
country beyond 2014.
Officials shed no light on the motive or state of mind of the staff
sergeant who was taken into custody shortly after the alleged
massacre.
“He walked right off the base, started shooting civilians and returned
to the base and turned himself in,” Maj. Jason Waggnor, a U.S.
military spokesman said.
U.S. military officials stressed that the shooting was carried out by
a lone, rogue soldier, differentiating it from past instances of
civilians killed accidentally during military operations.
“I cannot explain the motivation behind such callous acts,” Lt. Gen.
Adrian J. Bradshaw, the deputy commander of the international troop
coalition in Afghanistan said in a statement. “They were in no way
part of authorized military activity.”