U.S. sergeant to be charged with 17 counts in Afghan killings

PanARMENIAN.Net - Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, accused of killing Afghan civilians in a shooting rampage in Kandahar province last week, will be charged with 17 counts of murder, a U.S. official said on Thursday, March 22.

Earlier accounts of the incident, which has damaged U.S.-Afghan relations, had tallied 16 victims, including nine children and three women.

Bales, a four-tour combat veteran, will also face other charges, including attempted murder, but the official was unable to say how many additional counts there would be.

Legal proceedings would likely take place at Bales' home base, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, close to Tacoma, Washington, the U.S. official said.

Bales, 38, is being held in solitary confinement at a military detention center in Leavenworth, Kansas. His civilian defense attorney, Seattle-based John Henry Browne, was not immediately available for comment.

Earlier this week, Browne said U.S. authorities had no proof of what occurred on the evening in question, and that Bales had "no memory" of the incident.

Browne, who has defended several multiple homicide suspects, including serial killer Ted Bundy, has indicated that stress may have played a role in his client's state of mind, Reuters reported.