WASHINGTON - U.S. officials Friday identified the soldier accused of killing 16 civilians, including women and children, in Afghanistan as Army Staff sergeant Robert Bales.
Media reports Friday cited U.S. officials, whose names were not reported, as saying Bales, 38, was flown from Kuwait to a U.S. military detention center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the families of the people killed by the U.S. soldier he distrusts the U.S. military's version of what happened.
Karzai said the killing spree has pushed U.S.-Afghan relations to 'the end of the rope,' CNN reported. He said U.S. officials appeared to be withholding information.
Bales reportedly left an outpost in Kandahar province, Camp Belambay, and shot nine children, three women and four men in nearby villages Sunday.
'We tried to talk to the soldier involved, but there was no cooperation from America,' Karzai told the families. 'Based on what you are saying, the killer was not just one person.'
Karzai said Afghan investigators are suspicious of U.S. video footage captured by security cameras, CNN said.
Bales has been described as a decorated veteran of three combat tours in Iraq. He was in his first deployment in Afghanistan. His unit was based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
He reportedly suffered a serious head injury in 2010 in a vehicle rollover in Iraq.
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