U.S. soldier’s shooting spree leaves 16 Afghans dead

In a remote southern Afghanistan village, shortly after 2:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, an American soldier walked off his base and went on a shooting spree, killing at least 16 Afghans in their homes, including nine children and three women, Afghan officials reported. The rampage appears to mark the deadliest intentional attack on civilians by an American soldier in the decade-long Afghanistan war. The shooter, a staff sergeant from Fort Lewis in Washington, was immediately detained by U.S. officials after he turned himself in. This incident comes nearly a month after Afghan rage over the burning of Qurans and other Islamic religious materials by U.S. soldiers. The murders on Sunday reportedly threatened to spark a new crisis in the strained relationship between the United States and Afghanistan, increasing pessimism among Americans about the U.S. mission and growing anti-American sentiment among Afghan civilians.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s office released a statement he had with a relative of one of the victims who said, “You have asked the Americans again and again to avoid civilian casualties, but again the Americans are killing innocent people.” Karzai called the killings an “assassination” and demanded an explanation from U.S. officials. President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta called Karzai on Sunday to discuss the incident. “This incident is tragic and shocking and does not represent the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the United States has for the people of Afghanistan,” Obama said. American soldiers are reportedly bracing themselves for revenge attacks by Afghan civilians and the Taliban.