Western Forces Kill 16 Afghanis -Children and Women

**TrueStranger** · 03-11-2012

By Ahmad Nadem

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan | Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:07am EDT

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Western forces shot dead 16 civilians including nine children in southern Kandahar province on Sunday, Afghan officials said, in a rampage that witnesses said was carried out by American soldiers who were laughing and appeared drunk.

One Afghan father who said his children were killed in the shooting spree accused soldiers of later burning the bodies.

Witnesses told Reuters they saw a group of U.S. soldiers arrive at their village in Kandahar's Panjwayi district at around 2 am, enter homes and open fire.

The incident, one of the worst of its kind since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, is likely to deepen the divide between Washington and Kabul.

The U.S. embassy in Kabul said an American soldier had been detained over the shooting. It added that anti-U.S. reprisals were possible following the killings, which come just weeks after U.S. soldiers burned copies of the Koran at a NATO base, triggering widespread anti-Western protests.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the rampage as "intentional murders" and demanded an explanation from the United States. His office said the dead included nine children and three women.

An Afghan minister earlier told Reuters that a lone U.S. soldier had killed up to 16 people when he burst into homes in villages near his base in the middle of the night.

Panjwayi district is about 35 km (22 miles) west of the provincial capital Kandahar city. The district is considered the spiritual home of the Taliban and is believed to be a hive of insurgent activity.

Haji Samad said 11 of his relatives were killed in one house, including his children. Pictures showed blood-splattered walls where the children were killed.

"They (Americans) poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them," a weeping Samad told Reuters at the scene.

"I saw that all 11 of my relatives were killed, including my children and grandchildren," said Samad, who had left the home a day earlier.

Neighbors said they awoke to crackling gunfire from American soldiers, whom they described as laughing and drunk.

"They were all drunk and shooting all over the place," said neighbor Agha Lala, who visited one of the homes where the incident took place. "Their bodies were riddled with bullets."

A senior U.S. defense official said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta "was deeply saddened to hear last night of this incident and is closely monitoring reports out of Afghanistan." The White House also expressed concern.

The Afghan Taliban would take revenge for the deaths, the group said in an e-mailed statement to media.

U.S.-AFGHAN TIES LIKELY TO PLUNGE FURTHER

The U.S. embassy in Kabul said an investigation was under way into Sunday's shooting and that "the individual or individuals responsible for this act will be identified and brought to justice".

The commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) General John Allen said he was "shocked and saddened" by the shooting, and promised a rapid investigation.

The Minister of Border and Tribal Affairs Asadullah Khalid, who is investigating the incident, said the soldier entered three homes, killing 11 people in the first one.

"The defense minister ... is deeply shocked and saddened by the killings of 15 innocent civilians and the wounding of nine more at the hands of the coalition forces," the Defense Ministry in Kabul said in a statement.

Civilian casualties have been a major source of friction between Karzai's Western-backed government and U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.

The shootings could intensify friction between Washington and Kabul as NATO prepares to hand over all security responsibilities to Afghans by the end of 2014, a process which has already started.

The Koran burning and the violence that followed, including a spate of deadly attacks against U.S. soldiers, tested brittle ties between the governments of Karzai and President Barack Obama and underscored the challenges that the West faces even as it moves to withdraw.

All foreign combat troops will withdraw by end-2014 from a costly war that has become increasingly unpopular.

(Reporting by Ahmad Nadem in Kandahar and Hamid Shalizi in Kabul; Writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman, Editing by Dean Yates).

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...82A02V20120311

**TrueStranger** · 03-11-2012

The story has changed and now supposedly there was only one American soldier who went to three different house in two different villages and killed 16 innocent people and injured few others. What a load of American raw sewage. There was probably more than one killer, and reducing it to a single individual will make their "it's an isolated incident" appear more reasonable to the ignorant masses.

Why the hell did he burn the bodies. This is clearly an act carried out by a group of individuals.

May Allah grant them Jannatul Fardos and help the Afghanis.

U.S. servicemember opens fire on Afghans; at least 15 dead

BALANDI, Afghanistan (AP) – A U.S. service member walked out of a base in southern Afghanistan before dawn Sunday and started shooting Afghan civilians, according to villagers and Afghan and NATO officials. Villagers showed an Associated Press photographer 15 bodies, including women and children, who they said were killed by the American.

An AP photographer saw 15 bodies between the two villages. Some of the bodies had been burned, while others were covered with blankets.

Khalid, the government representative, said he had tallied 16 dead, a number that matched accounts from villagers.

Twelve of the dead were from Balandi, said Samad Khan, a farmer who lost all 11 members of his family, including women and children. Khan was away from the village when the incident occurred and returned to find his family members shot and burned. One of his neighbors was also killed, he said.

"This is an anti-human and anti-Islamic act," said Khan. "Nobody is allowed in any religion in the world to kill children and women."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/s...ngs/53472526/1

**CosmicPathos** · 03-11-2012

hang him from american flag pole.

**aadil77** · 03-11-2012

they used to do much worse in vietnam

this incident will fuel support for the taliban, can expect loads of dead yanks some time soon

**TrueStranger** · 03-11-2012

Originally Posted by aadil77

they used to do much worse in vietnam

this incident will fuel support for the taliban, can expect loads of dead yanks some time soon

They are still doing much worse things. They just learned the art of concealment and propaganda.

**TrueStranger** · 03-11-2012

Originally Posted by CosmicPathos

hang him from american flag pole.

You're being too nice. They already pulled the "he is not mentally stable" nonsense. He ( and I doubt this was an act carried out by an individual) should be given to the Afghanis, and let them deliver justice.

**Jedi_Mindset** · 03-11-2012

Americans they are really in drunken state, lower then animals, followers of dajjal big time. Massacres likes this, will cause more people likely to join the mujahideen there. This action will not be unpunished insha'Allah

more:

Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death (earlier title: Massacre at Mazar[1]) is a 2002 documentary by Irish filmmaker Jamie Doran and Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi about alleged war crimes committed by Afghan Northern Alliance troops under General Abdul Rashid Dostum against Taliban fighters. The Taliban fighters, who had surrendered to Dostum's troops after the November 2001 siege of Kunduz, were transported to Sheberghan prison in sealed containers. Human rights groups estimate that hundreds or thousands of them died during and after transit. Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death presents testimony from interviewees stating that American military personnel were present at and complicit in some of the mass killings, known as the Dasht-i-Leili massacre.

A short early version of the documentary was shown to the European and German Parliaments in June 2002, causing widespread concern in Europe.[1][2][3][4] Against protests from the United States government, the completed documentary was shown later that year on many countries' national television channels, including German, British, Italian and Australian television. The programme was not screened in the U.S. and received no U.S. media coverage.[3][5][6][7] A Newsweek report in August 2002, based on a leaked UN memo, did confirm some of the details in Doran's documentary, as well as the presence of mass graves in the Dasht-i-Leili desert, but made no mention of the documentary.[4][8][9]

In July 2009, Barack Obama, the president of the United States, ordered a probe into allegations that the Bush administration had resisted efforts to have the massacre investigated

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this is what you won't see in their media eh? They attack our mind but also psychically.

**CosmicPathos** · 03-11-2012

Originally Posted by TrueStranger

You're being too nice. They already pulled the "he is not mentally stable" nonsense. He ( and I doubt this was an act carried out by an individual) should be given to the Afghanis, and let them deliver justice.

for the first time I agree with you.