villager killed and $11,000 for each person wounded in a shooting rampage
allegedly carried out by a rogue American soldier in southern Afghanistan,
Afghan officials said Sunday.
The families were told that the money came from President Barack Obama. The
unusually large payouts were the latest move by the White House to mend
relations with the Afghan people after the killings threatened to shatter
already tense relations.
Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is accused of sneaking off his base on March
11, then creeping into houses in two nearby villages and opening fire on
families as they slept.
The killings came as tensions between the U.S. and Afghanistan were
strained following the burning of Qurans at a U.S. base in February. That
act – which U.S. officials have acknowledged was a mistake – sparked riots
and attacks that killed more than 30 people, including six American
soldiers.
There have been no violent protests following the March 11 shootings in
Kandahar province's Panjwai district, but demands for justice on Afghan
terms have been getting louder since Bales was flown out of the country to
a U.S. military prison. Many Afghans in Kandahar have continued to argue
that there must have been multiple gunmen and accused the U.S. government
of using Bales as a scapegoat.
U.S. investigators believe the gunman returned to his base after the first
attack and later slipped away to kill again.
That would seem to support the U.S. government's assertion that the shooter
acted alone, since the killings would have been perpetrated over a longer
period of time than assumed when Bales was detained outside his base in
Kandahar province's Panjwai district.
But it also raises new questions about how the suspect could have carried
out the pre-dawn attacks without drawing attention from any Americans on
the base.
Bales has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and other
crimes and could face the death penalty if convicted.
The families of the dead received the money Saturday at the governor's
office, said Kandahar provincial council member Agha Lalai. He and
community elder Jan Agha confirmed the payout amounts.
Survivors previously had received smaller compensation payments from Afghan
officials – $2,000 for each death and $1,000 for each person wounded.
Two U.S. officials confirmed that compensation had been paid but declined
to discuss exact amounts, saying only that the payments reflected the
devastating nature of the incident. The officials spoke anonymously because
of the sensitivity of the subject.
A spokesman for NATO and U.S. forces, Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, said only
that coalition members often make compensation payments, but they are
usually kept private.
"As the settlement of claims is in most cases a sensitive topic for those
who have suffered loss, it is usually a matter of agreement that the terms
of the settlement remain confidential," Cummings said.
However, civilian death compensations are occasionally made public. In
2010, U.S. troops in Helmand province said they paid $1,500 to $2,000 if a
civilian was killed in a military operation and $600 to $1,500 for a
serious injury. The Panjwai shootings are different because they were not
part of a sanctioned operation, but it is a distinction lost on many
Afghans who see any civilian deaths as criminal.
The provided compensation figures would mean that at least $866,000 was
paid out in all. Afghan officials and villagers have counted 16 dead – 12
in the village of Balandi and four in neighboring Alkozai – and six
wounded. The U.S. military has charged Bales with 17 murders without
explaining the discrepancy.
The 38-year-old soldier, who is from Lake Tapps, Wash., is accused of using
his 9mm pistol and M-4 rifle to kill four men, four women, two boys and
seven girls, then burning some of the bodies. The ages of the children were
not disclosed in the charge sheet.
Bales is being held in a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. The
mandatory minimum sentence if he is convicted is life imprisonment with the
chance of parole. He could also receive the death penalty.
Families of the dead declined to comment on any payments by U.S. officials
on Sunday, but some said previously that they were more concerned about
seeing the perpetrator punished than money.
Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban and remains a dangerous area
despite several offensives.
In the latest violence, a bomb struck a joint NATO-Afghan foot patrol in
Kandahar's Arghandab district late Saturday, killing nine Afghans and one
international service member, according to Shah Mohammad, the district
administrator.
Arghandab is a farming region just outside Kandahar city that has long
provided refuge for Taliban insurgents. It was one of a number of
communities around Kandahar city that were targeted in a 2010 sweep to oust
the insurgency from the area.
The Afghan dead included one soldier, three police officers, four members
of the Afghan "local police" – a government-sponsored militia force – and
one translator, Mohammad said.
NATO reported earlier Sunday that one of its service members was killed
Saturday in a bomb attack in southern Afghanistan but did not provide
additional details. It was not clear if this referred to the same incident,
as NATO usually waits for individual coalition nations to confirm the
details of deaths of their troops.
___
Associated Press Writer Robert Burns contributed to this report from
Washington
------------------------------------
Editor,
Tariq Khattak, Islamabad, Pakistan.
GSM = 0300-9599007 and 0333-9599007
Email: Tariqgulkhattak@gmail.com
Thanks for participating.
Kindly suggest improvements.
Please let us know:
I. If you want to receive individual emails
II. Receive one mail with all activity in it
III. Do not want to receive any mail at all
REQUESTS:
1) Please directly contact sender for personal/individual correspondence.
2) Try to discuss issues that will catch attention of many readers.
3) Please avoid sending messages in any language other than English
4) Avoid sending messages addressed to many recipients.
5) Do not send messages aimed at personal publicity.
6) Please do not send personal/other links unless necessary.
7) The Group is not obliged to publish printed news,
very short/long comments and objectionable material.
8) Every mail cannot be published; it will overload Mailboxes
of our valued members.
9) Try to Disagree Without Being Disagreeable, Unsympathetic and/or Unpleasant.
x==x==x==x==x==x
Please note that,
It is a common platform for journalists and all others who are interested in knowing about the issues that are sometimes not reported. This group favours philosophy of progress, reform and the protection of civil liberties. Please share and educate others. The owners and managers of this site do not necessarily agree with any of the information. It is an open forum; everyone is allowed to share anything. Mails sent by members and non-members are subject to approval. However, we are not responsible in any way for the contents of mails / opinion sent by members. We do not guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. (Nor can print and electronic media). If you find content on this site which you feel is inappropriate or inaccurate, incomplete, or useless you are most welcome to report it or contradict it.
Thanks a lot.
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To reply to this message, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pakistan-Media/post?act=reply&messageNum=10533
Please do not reply to this message via email. More information here:
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/messages/messages-23.html
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pakistan-Media/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
Pakistan-Media-digest@yahoogroups.com
Pakistan-Media-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pakistan-Media/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Pakistan-Media-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Gujranwalafun@Aol.com
Gujranwala@windiowslive.com