Report says US Army killed Afghans for fun
Washington, Sept. 19: A group of US soldiers is facing accusations of randomly targeting and killing Afghan civilians for sport, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.
Citing army legal documents and interviews with people involved in the case, the newspaper said the case involved rogue members of a platoon from the 5th Stryker Combat Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.
The game started last winter, when one Afghan man approached the soldier in the village of La Mohammed Kalay, the report said.
As the man neared, one soldier created a ruse that they were under attack, tossing a fragmentary grenade on the ground, the paper noted. Then others opened fire, killing the man.
According to The Post, the unprovoked attack on January 15 was the start of a months-long shooting spree against Afghan civilians that resulted in some of the grisliest allegations against American soldiers since the US invasion in 2001.
Members of the platoon have been charged with dismembering and photographing corpses, as well as hoarding a skull and other human bones, the report said.
The father of one soldier said he repeatedly tried to alert the army after his son told him about the first killing, only to be rebuffed, The Post said.
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