US soldier to be charged with murder in Afghan killings

Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will be charged with 17 counts of murder, assault and a string of other offenses in the massacre of Afghan villagers as they slept, a U.S. official said.The charges against Bales include 17 counts of murder, six counts of attempted murder and six counts of aggravated assault as well as dereliction of duty and other violations of military law, the official said on condition of anonymity because the charges had not been announced.The 38-year-old soldier and father of two who lives in Lake Tapps, Washington, will be charged with going on a shooting rampage in two villages near his Southern Afghanistan military post in the early hours of March 11, gunning down nine Afghan children and eight adults and burning some of the victims bodies.The charges are to be read to Bales on Friday. And they reflect the change earlier Friday that increased the number of Afghans killed in the shooting spree from 16, which was widely reported for the past week, to 17.There was initial confusion about the number of dead, hampered to some degree by the fact that some may have been buried before U.S. military officials arrived at the scene of the carnage. Defense officials said Friday that investigators have now determined that there were 17 killed, but they were unable to provide any other details about how the change came about. Six Afghans were wounded in the attack.Bales civilian attorney, John Henry Browne, did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages seeking comment on the charges.Bales is being held in a military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas and faces trial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.