Afghanistan massacre suspect named as Sgt Robert Bales
Baku, March 17 (AZERTAC). The US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in a massacre that has undermined relations with Kabul has been named as Staff Sgt Robert Bales.
Senior US officials told the BBC the name of the suspect as he was heading back to the US to face charges.
He has now arrived at a military detention centre in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after being flown from Kuwait, the US Army said.
He will be held in solitary confinement pending charges, the Army added.
Sgt Bales' lawyer, John Henry Browne, said he had been injured twice while serving in Iraq.
Mr Browne also said the accused, aged 38, had witnessed his friend's leg blown off the day before the killings.
That incident has not been confirmed by the US Army.
The Taliban called off peace talks in the wake of Sunday's deadly rampage - in which men, women and children were shot and killed at close range.
The US has stressed it remained committed to Afghan reconciliation.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has also reacted angrily to the killings. He told the US it must pull back its troops from village areas and allow Afghan security forces to take the lead in an effort to reduce civilian deaths.
On Friday he said the US was not fully co-operating with a probe into the killings.
He also said the problem of civilian casualties at the hands of Nato forces had "gone on for too long".
Shortly after Sgt Bales' name emerged, Mr Browne confirmed that was the name of the soldier he was representing.
Images quickly emerged online from a Department of Defense website thought to show him on duty in Afghanistan - and identifying him in the same unit as previously revealed by military officials, part of 3rd Stryker 2nd Infantry.
The photos were soon removed from the live site but remained available to access.
Sgt Bales has not yet been charged, but is the only known suspect in the killings - despite repeated Afghan assertions that more than one American was involved.
The Pentagon has previously said that he could face charges that carry a possible death penalty.
Such a trial could take years, contrasting with Afghan demands for swift and decisive justice.
In the town of Lake Tapps, Washington state, neighbours described their surprise at Sgt Bales' alleged crimes.
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