Allied forces braced for Taliban backlash
Taliban leaders pledge revenge after the fatal shooting of 16 civilians, including nine children, by an American soldier in Kandahar.
The Afghan fighting force released a statement on their website attacking the “sick-minded American savages”, pledging that it would “take revenge from the invaders and the savage murderers for every single martyr”.
Their statement emerged as senior military officials warned of reprisal attacks against US and British soldiers in Afghanistan.
Colonel Richard Kemp warned that the massacre would erode trust in the allied forces.
He told ITV that building up trust with local people is “one of the most important things that our forces do day-to-day in Afghanistan”.
But he added: “That trust is going to be eroded by this kind of incident, so not only are we likely to see protests and possibly American, possibly British soldiers, killed over what happened on Saturday night, but also a very severe weakening of the relationship between many of the people in Afghanistan who were supporting us.”
On Sunday, President Barack Obama offered his condolences to his counterpart in Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, and expressed his “shock and sadness” over the incident, during which a US soldier killed the civilians during an early morning killing spree in a village outside his base in southern Afghanistan.
Investigation
As US military officials launched an investigation, the soldier, reported to be an army staff sergeant, was being detained in Kandahar with initial indications suggesting he handed himself in following the massacre.
However reports that the soldier suffered a breakdown before the incident have been rejected.
Nato officials have apologised for the killings. Lieutenant General Adrian Bradshaw, deputy commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, said: “I wish to convey my profound regrets and dismay at the actions apparently taken by one coalition member in Kandahar province.
“I cannot explain the motivation behind such callous acts but they were in no way part of authorised Isaf military activity.”
Mr Karzai said the rampage was “impossible to forgive”. It follows last month’s burning of the Koran by US forces at Bagram base, and a video released in January which showed US troops urinating on the bodies of Afghan fighters.
