More than 1 US soldier involved in March 11 massacre: Afghan eyewitnesses

Afghan eyewitnesses to the March 11 massacre of 16 civilians in Kandahar province say the slaughter was carried out by more than one US soldier.

Five Afghan civilians and two Afghan Army guards spoke over a live video link from Afghanistan into a military courtroom at Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside Seattle where the hearing started late on Friday.

As the Afghan eyewitnesses described the horror that left seven adults and nine children dead in the early hours of March 11, US Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, accused of carrying out the murder, sat nonchalantly in the courtroom.

The 39-year-old is accused of drinking alcohol and watching a violent movie before going on the killing spree.

“Their brains were still on the pillows,” said Mullah Khamal Adin, 39, describing the 11 members of his cousin’s family he found dead. Most of the dead bodies burned in a pile in one room.

Faizullah, whose father Haji Mohammed Naim was gunned down, told the hearing that he was awoken and saw a US soldier shooting his father.

He added that the shooter was not alone on the night of the attack in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province.

Quadratullah, Naim’s other son, said of the shooter, “He jumped from the wall, and I just saw the light on his head. He just started shooting me.”

Another witness closed his remarks with the words, “My request is to get justice.”

The hearing, which began last Monday, was held overnight Friday.

According to a video broadcast by CNN in March, Afghan villagers said multiple US troops broke into their houses and asked about the Taliban.

Witnesses said that they told the troops that there were no Taliban there, but they started shooting at people anyway.

Other villagers said that after the carnage, the US soldiers piled up the dead bodies of the victims and set them on fire.

The US broadcaster showed photographs of the dead bodies of the children, which the villagers said were burnt by the troops.

However, US officials still insist that only Bales was responsible for the killings.