In a tragic and bloody rampage that has sent shockwaves across the region, an American soldier on Sunday opened fire on villagers and shot dead as many as 16 civilians, including nine women and three children, in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.
Witnesses told Reuters that they saw a group of US soldiers arrive in their village in Kandahar’s Panjwayi district at around 2 am, enter homes and open fire. A statement from the US State Department in Washington, however, has claimed that only one American soldier appears to have been involved in Sunday’s shooting of Afghan civilians.
According to eye-witness reports, the American soldiers were laughing and appeared to be drunk. One Afghan father whose children were killed in the shooting spree accused the soldiers of later burning the bodies.
The incident, the worst of its kind since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, is likely to deepen the divide between Washington and Kabul. The US embassy in Kabul, meanwhile, has said that one American soldier has been detained over the shooting.
Panjwayi district is about 35 km (22 miles) west of the provincial capital Kandahar. 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.”
A senior US defence official said that Defence Secretary Leon Panetta “was deeply saddened to hear last night of this incident and is closely monitoring reports out of Afghanistan.”
The shootings are likely to 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 begun.
However, the desecration of the Holy Quran by US soldiers at a Nato base and the subsequent violence that followed, including a spate of deadly attacks against US 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.
Following the shooting, the US embassy in Kabul warned on Sunday that the likelihood of anti-American reprisals was extremely high. The embassy issued the warning in a text message to the media. —
AFP adds from Kabul: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday condemned the slaughter of 16 villagers in their homes by a rogue American soldier as “unforgivable”. “When Afghan people are killed deliberately by US forces, this action is murder and terror and an unforgivable action,” Karzai said in statement.
“The government and the people of Afghanistan demand an explanation from the United States government of this incident,” said Karzai.
Nato’s International Security Assistance Forces (Isaf) meanwhile say they have arrested a soldier over the incident, as Isaf commander General John Allen condemned “this deeply appalling incident”. He also vowed to hold “fully accountable” anyone found responsible for the killing spree.
“I offer my profound regret and deepest condolences to the victims and their families. I pledge to all the noble people of Afghanistan my commitment to a rapid and thorough investigation,” the Isaf commander promised. “In the meantime, we will continue to offer medical care for those who were injured in this shooting. We will maintain custody of the US service member alleged to have perpetrated this attack. And we will cooperate fully with local Afghan authorities as we ascertain all the facts.”
“I cannot explain the motivation behind such callous acts, but they were in no way part of authorised ISAF military activity,” his deputy Lieutenant General Adrian Bradshaw said in a similar statement as the US rushed to offer condolences.
US President Barack Obama said Sunday that he was “deeply saddened” at the shooting spree: “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,” Obama said in a written statement, describing the incident as “tragic and shocking.
——Agencies