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Summary The US soldier accused in the killing of 16 Afghan civilians has been identified.
US officials on Friday identified the US soldier who allegedly shot and killed 16 civilians in Afghanistan as Staff Sergeant Robert Bales.Sundays attack in the southern province of Kandahar, in which mainly women and children were killed, has ignited fresh public anger in Afghanistan at the US presence and plunged US-Afghan relations into crisis.US media first identified Bales, 38, as the alleged shooter. A US official, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP that the reports were correct.On Friday the soldier was en route from Kuwait to the US military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, officials said.Several websites containing pictures and stories about Bales, including a 2009 Department of Defense page, were taken down Friday.The decorated soldiers civilian attorney, John Henry Browne, stressed to US media that his client had been upset by a serious injury sustained by a comrade the day before the massacre, but held no animosity toward Muslims.Investigators have reason to believe that alcohol may have been a factor in this tragic incident, a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Afghan leaders have demanded that the shooting suspect face a public trial in Afghanistan over the killings.Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday again lashed out at Washington over the massacre, one day after he said international forces should leave villages in his country, potentially jeopardizing NATO operations two years before combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan.In a phone conversation between the leaders Friday, US President Barack Obama agreed to resolve Karzais concerns over night raids as the two said they would discuss complaints about NATO troops in villages.
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