COVER-UP: Afghan probe Finds Up to 20 US troops behind Kandahar bloodbath

RT News
Published: 16 March, 2012, 11:33
Edited: 17 March, 2012, 03:42

An Afghan parliamentary investigation team has implicated up to 20 US troops in the massacre of 16 civilians in Kandahar early on Sunday morning. It contradicts NATO's account that insists one rogue soldier was behind the slaughter.

U.S. armoured vehicles are parked outside a US base 
in Panjwai district Kandahar province, 

March 11, 2012 (Reuters / Ahmad Nadeem) 

The team of Afghan lawmakers has spent two days collating reports from witnesses, survivors and inhabitants of the villages where the tragedy took place.

“We are convinced that one soldier cannot kill so many people in two villages within one hour at the same time, and the 16 civilians, most of them children and women, have been killed by the two groups,” investigator Hamizai Lali told Afghan News.

Lali also said their investigations led them to believe 15 to 20 US soldiers had been involved in the killings. He appealed to the international community to ensure that the responsible parties were brought to justice, stressing the Afghan parliament would not rest until the killers were prosecuted.

"If the international community does not play its role in punishing the perpetrators, the Wolesi Jirga [parliament] would declare foreign troops as occupying forces,” he said.

The head of the Afghan parliamentary investigation, Sayed Ishaq Gillani, told the BBC that witnesses report seeing helicopters dropping chaff during the attack, a measure used to hide targets from ground attack.

Gillani added that locals suspect the massacre was revenge for attacks carried out last week on US forces that left several injured.

In response to the massacre Afghan PM Hamid Karzai called for US troops to quit Afghan villages and confine themselves to their military bases across the country. Furthermore, the Taliban announced that talks with US forces would be suspended.

Meanwhile the US military has detained one soldier in connection with the massacre and transferred him to Kuwait amid outcry for a public trial in Afghanistan. Currently, the soldier is being flown to Kansas base, AFP reported.

US authorities are currently conducting an investigation into the motives behind the attack, but maintain that the soldier’s trial must be dealt with by the US legal system.

It is believed that the soldier may have had alcohol problems and been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Afghans say US`s side of the story not correct: not one but 20 soldiers took part in massacreAfghan tribal leaders: Afghan civilians’ massacre pre-planned

Afghan tribal leaders: Afghan civilians’ massacre pre-planned
Press TV
Tue Mar 13, 2012 6:37PM GMT

Afghan tribal leaders say the recent massacre of Afghan civilians by US troops has been pre-planned and not carried out by a lone soldier, Press TV reports.

US soldiers keep watch at the entrance of a military base near Alkozai village following the shooting of Afghan civilians allegedly committed by a rogue US soldier in Panjwayi district, Kandahar province on March 11, 2012 

The tribal leaders of the southern province of Kandahar said on Monday that several US forces, not a single soldier, contributed to the brutal carnage of Afghan civilians and that the violent action had been planned previously. 

• Original story: American soldier has a 'breakdown' and shoots nine children dead in their sleep in house-to-house shooting rampage in Afghanistan that killed 16 civilians  

They said the carnage was in retaliation against a deadly bomb attack on the US troops in the Zangabad district in the town of Panjwaii in the province of Kandahar, which inflicted serious damage on the American military forces.

Following the blast, the American forces summoned local Afghans and tribal leaders of the region and vowed a bloody revenge on their children and wives, Kandahar tribal leaders added.

On Sunday, a US soldier opened fire on Afghan civilians inside their homes, killing at least 16 and injuring several others in the town of Panjwaii.

Local witnesses, however, put the number of the victims at 18, saying nearly a dozen bodies of the Afghan victims were burnt after the slaughter.

Kandahar tribal leaders called on the Afghan government and the international community to carry out an investigation into the crime and put the perpetrators of the heinous act on trial in an Afghan court.

Afghan lawmakers have also called for a public trial of the US troops involved in the massacre.

Meanwhile, Afghan Taliban have vowed revenge against US forces.

AZA/ AO/JR

Afghan civilian bodies burnt after shooting spree by US soldier

‘US forces burned bodies of Afghans after massacre’
Press TV
Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:46AM GMT

Afghan eyewitnesses say US troopers have burnt nearly a dozen bodies of the Afghan victims, whom American servicemen had killed during an earlier massacre.

UPDATED:'Several drunk troops behind bloodbath, laughed on shooting-spree, burned corpses'
Original story: US Soldier goes on a killing spree, just what is going on in Afghanistan? (WARNING: Graphic images)

A mourner cries over the bodies of the Afghan civilians, shot by US forces, in the Alkozai village in Kandahar Province in southeastern Afghanistan on March 11, 2012. Image: Press TV

Early Sunday, US forces opened fire on Afghan civilians inside their homes in the district of Panjwaii in the southern province of Kandahar, killing at least 17 civilians and injuring several others. The Taliban militants said at least 50 people were killed in the massacre.

Earlier reports said the assassin was a lone US sergeant.

Villagers said the US forces later collected 11 of the bodies, including those of four girls under the age of six, and set them on fire.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned the bloodshed, calling it an inhuman, intentional, and unforgiveable act.

• Afghan MPs call for public trial of US forces involved in Afghan massacre
• Pentagon rebuffs Afghan trial in shooting spree
• Taliban vow revenge against US troops for murdering Afghans
• US offers condolence over killing Afghan civilians

“When Afghan people are killed deliberately by US forces, this action is murder and terror and an unforgivable action," Karzai said in a statement.

"The government and the people of Afghanistan demand an explanation from the United States government of this incident."

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan have been a major source of tension between Kabul and Washington.

The outrages came in the wake of violent clashes in several Afghan provinces over recent desecration of the Holy Qur’an by the United States forces at the US-run Bagram Airbase in the province of Parwan in northeastern Afghanistan. The violence left over 30 people, including six American forces, dead and around 180 others injured.

The US-led invasion of Afghanistan was launched in 2001. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country, despite the presence there of tens of thousands of US-led troops.

GJH/MF/HN

Additional Info:

• Afghan civilian murders by US Forces story continued...
• US Soldier goes on a killing spree, just what is going on in Afghanistan? (WARNING: Graphic images)

Afghan civilian murders by US Forces story continued...

Taliban vows revenge against US forces over Afghan civilian murders
NEWSCORE/NEW YORK POST
Last Updated: 9:28 AM, March 12, 2012

UPDATE: Pentagon rebuffs Afghan trial in shooting spree


KABUL -- Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents vowed revenge Monday against "sick-minded American savages" after a US soldier killed 16 villagers in their homes, while the Afghan parliament demanded the perpetrator be put on public trial in the country.

The Taliban would "take revenge from the invaders and the savage murderers for every single martyr," the hardline Islamist group said in a statement on their website.

...Karzai reacted with anger to the incident, saying, "When the Americans are killing civilians intentionally, this is called terror and it is an unforgivable act."
Obama called Karzai on Sunday to personally express his "shock and sadness" at the incident.
"I am deeply saddened by the reported killing and wounding of Afghan civilians," Obama said in a statement. "I offer my condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, and to the people of Afghanistan, who have endured too much violence and suffering."
...

(click here to read the full article)

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/taliban_vows_revenge_against_us_eM2vmql8IoZbudcJG2KdsK#ixzz1ouaCjV1r

• American soldier has a 'breakdown' and shoots nine children dead in their sleep in house-to-house shooting rampage in Afghanistan that killed 16 civilians - Original story; WARNING CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES

US Soldier goes on a killing spree, just what is going on in Afghanistan? (WARNING: Graphic images)

American soldier has a 'breakdown' and shoots nine children dead in their sleep in house-to-house shooting rampage in Afghanistan that killed 16 civilians

Daily Mail
By BETH STEBNER
PUBLISHED: 08:54 EST, 11 March 2012 | UPDATED: 20:07 EST, 11 March 2012

• Shooter identified as Army staff sergeant from Fort Lewis, Washington
• Base regarded as 'most troubled in the military,' that housed soldiers involved in Afghan 'thrill killings' case in 2010
• Assigned to support a special operations unit of either Green Berets or Navy SEALs
• He allegedly went into three homes early this morning and shot dead 16 people after 'suffering mental breakdown'
• Nine children and three women among those reported dead
• Relative said he 'poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them'
• Afghan president Hamid Karzai condemned shootings as 'assassination'
• President Obama called attack 'tragic' and 'shocking'
• Attack could deepen strife and comes weeks after outrage over Koran burning at NATO base left at least 30 dead
• Afghan Taliban said in email they are likely to retaliate

Sixteen innocent Afghan civilians - including nine children and three women - were shot and killed by a rogue U.S. soldier who opened fire after suffering a 'mental breakdown' early this morning.

The Army staff sergeant, who was stationed at a U.S. base in Kandahar, reportedly entered three Afghan family’s homes around 3am this morning and began the killing spree. A relative of the deceased added that he then 'poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them.'
The shooter was identified by U.S. officials as an Army staff sergeant from Fort Lewis, Washington, who was believed to have acted alone.

Initial reports indicated he returned to the base after the shooting, turned himself in and was taken into custody at a NATO base in Afghanistan.

Disbelief: Two grief-stricken Afghan men look into the van where the body of a badly burned child lays, wrapped in a blue blanket.

(click here to read full article and view images, video WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT)


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2113410/US-soldier-shoots-dead-16-Afghan-civilians-house-house-shooting-spree-suffering-mental-breakdown.html#ixzz1orsmKp5c