U.S. Soldier Slaughters Over a Dozen Women and Children in Brutal Rampage

Published March 12, 2012

Daily Mail— Sixteen innocent Afghan civilians – including nine children and three women – were shot and killed by a rogue U.S. soldier who opened fire after suffering a ‘mental breakdown’ early this morning.

The Army staff sergeant, who was stationed at a U.S. base in Kandahar, reportedly entered three Afghan family’s homes around 3am this morning and began the killing spree. A relative of the deceased added that he then ‘poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them.’

The shooter was identified by U.S. officials as an Army staff sergeant from Fort Lewis, Washington, who was believed to have acted alone.

Initial reports indicated he returned to the base after the shooting, turned himself in and was taken into custody at a NATO base in Afghanistan.

Afghan president Hamid Karzai condemned the attacks as ‘an assassination’ and furiously demanded an explanation from the U.S.

Little is known about the soldier who committed the atrocities, including his name, but a U.S. official told ABC News that he is married with two children, and served three separate tours in Iraq.

He was assigned to support a special operations unit of either Green Berets or Navy SEALs engaged in a village stability operation.

He has reportedly been stationed in Afghanistan since December.

The base is about 45 miles south of Seattle and home to about 100,000 military and civilian personnel.

Read the full story and see the shocking images here.