Afghan shooting suspect ‘drunk’, Karzai blasts US
The American staff sergeant suspected of killing 16 Afghan villagers had been drinking alcohol — a violation of military rules in combat zones — and suffering from the stress related to his fourth combat tour and tensions with his wife about the deployments on the night of the massacre, a senior American official said Thursday.
“When it all comes out, it will be a combination of stress, alcohol and domestic issues — he just snapped,” said the official, who has been briefed on the investigation and who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The account by the US official, confirmed by a senior official at the Pentagon, came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he was at the “end of the rope’’ over civilian casualties, and angrily accused the US of not sharing information about the 38-year-old soldier.
Karzai said villagers’ accounts of the massacre were widely different from the scenario depicted by US military officials. He suggested that the killings could not have been carried out by one soldier alone.
The soldier’s lawyer John Henry Browne denied that his client was drunk, and instead, said the day before the rampage, the sergeant saw his friend’s leg blown off which likely had an impact.
Source http://www.indianexpress.com/news/afghan-shooting-suspect-drunk-karzai-blasts-us/924733/
“When it all comes out, it will be a combination of stress, alcohol and domestic issues — he just snapped,” said the official, who has been briefed on the investigation and who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The account by the US official, confirmed by a senior official at the Pentagon, came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he was at the “end of the rope’’ over civilian casualties, and angrily accused the US of not sharing information about the 38-year-old soldier.
Karzai said villagers’ accounts of the massacre were widely different from the scenario depicted by US military officials. He suggested that the killings could not have been carried out by one soldier alone.
The soldier’s lawyer John Henry Browne denied that his client was drunk, and instead, said the day before the rampage, the sergeant saw his friend’s leg blown off which likely had an impact.
Source http://www.indianexpress.com/news/afghan-shooting-suspect-drunk-karzai-blasts-us/924733/
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