Western forces kill 16 civilians in Afghanistan: Kabul government

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Western forces shot dead 16 civilians
including nine children in southern Kandahar province on Sunday, Afghan
officials said, in a rampage that witnesses said was carried out by
American soldiers who were laughing and appeared drunk.

One Afghan father who said his children were killed in the shooting
spree accused soldiers of later burning the bodies.

Witnesses told Reuters they saw a group of U.S. soldiers arrive at their
village in Kandahar's Panjwayi district at around 2 am, enter homes and
open fire.

The incident, one of the worst of its kind since the U.S.-led invasion
of Afghanistan in 2001, is likely to deepen the divide between
Washington and Kabul.

The U.S. embassy in Kabul said an American soldier had been detained
over the shooting. It added that anti-U.S. reprisals were possible
following the killings, which come just weeks after U.S. soldiers burned
copies of the Koran at a NATO base, triggering widespread anti-Western
protests.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the rampage as "intentional
murders" and demanded an explanation from the United States. His office
said the dead included nine children and three women.

An Afghan minister earlier told Reuters that a lone U.S. soldier had
killed up to 16 people when he burst into homes in villages near his
base in the middle of the night.
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Sheesh.