Afghans express skepticism over shooting account

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Afghans are expressing growing skepticism that a shooting rampage that killed 16 civilians was carried out by a single U.S. soldier.

Abdul Rahum Ayubi, who is a lawmaker from Kandahar province where the tragedy occurred, said on Monday it seemed impossible for one soldier to cover the ground between the houses that were attacked – over a mile (2 kilometers) – and also burn the dead bodies.

Bismullah Afghanmal, a parliament member, said the reports he received from villagers indicate the shooting before dawn on Sunday came from several directions.

But Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi, defense ministry spokesman, said initial reports indicate a single shooter.

U.S. officials also said they believe the soldier acted alone.

Reports on Sunday said, moving from house to house, a U.S. Army sergeant opened fire on Afghan villagers as they slept, killing 16 people - mostly women and children - in an attack that reignited fury at the U.S. presence following a wave of deadly protests over Americans burning Qurans.

The attack threatened the deepest breach yet in U.S.-Afghan relations, raising questions both in Washington and Kabul about why American troops are still fighting in Afghanistan after 10 years of conflict and the killing of Osama bin Laden.

The slayings, one of the worst atrocities committed by U.S. forces during the Afghan war, came amid deepening public outrage spurred by last month's Quran burnings and an earlier video purportedly showing U.S. Marines urinating on dead Taliban militants.

The Quran burnings sparked weeks of violent protests and attacks that left some 30 Afghans dead, despite an apology from President Barack Obama. Six U.S. service members were also killed by their fellow Afghan soldiers, although the tensions had just started to calm down.

According to U.S. and Afghan officials, Sunday's attack began around 3 a.m. in two villages in Panjwai district, a rural region outside Kandahar that is the cradle of the Taliban and where coalition forces have fought for control for years. The villages are about 500 yards (meters) from a U.S. base in a region that was the focus of Obama's military surge strategy in the south starting in 2009.

Villagers described cowering in fear as gunshots rang out as a soldier roamed from house to house firing on those inside. They said he entered three homes in all and set fire to some of the bodies. Eleven of the dead were from a single family, and nine of the victims were children.

U.S. officials said the shooter, identified as an Army staff sergeant, acted alone, leaving his base in southern Afghanistan and opening fire on sleeping families in two villages. Initial reports indicated he returned to the base after the shooting and turned himself in. He was in custody at a NATO base in Afghanistan.

The suspect, from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., was assigned to support a special operations unit of either Green Berets or Navy SEALs engaged in a village stability operation, said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still ongoing.