16 Afghans killed by rogue US soldier

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16 Afghans killed by rogue US soldier

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A soldier walked off the base in Kandahar in the early hours Sunday morning and started shooting.

11 March,2012 12:01 pm

Up to 16 Afghans were killed or wounded by a rogue American soldier who opened fire on civilians in southern Kandahar province, an Afghan official said Sunday.Today at around 3:00 am a US soldier walked off his base and started shooting at civilians. Ten to 16 people are killed and injured, Ahmad Jawed Faysal, a spokesman for the Kandahar governor, told AFP.What we know at this stage is that there have been casualties in two villages, Alokozai and Garrambai villages (in Panjwayi district), he told AFP.A delegation has been sent to find out how this has happened as well as to determine the dead and injured.The soldier has been detained, NATOs International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.A United States service member was detained today in connection to an incident that resulted in Afghan casualties in Kandahar province, it said, without specifying the number of victims.This is a deeply regrettable incident and we extend our thoughts and concerns to the families involved, ISAF said.US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A), in cooperation with Afghan authorities, will investigate this incident and release additional information as appropriate.The shooting comes after a series of incidents in which Afghan soldiers turned their guns on American troops, killing six, in the wake of the burning of Korans at a military base.But there was no word on what might have motivated the soldiers actions.The US has a strong presence in Kandahar, the birthplace of the hardline Islamist Taliban which is waging an insurgency against the government of President Hamid Karzai.The US leads some 130,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan in defence of the Karzai government.