Soldier ‘went on Afghan rampage after friend’s leg was blown off’

The US soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians saw his friend’s leg blown off the day before the rampage, his lawyer said today.

John Browne claimed that his “mild-mannered” client was surprised and reluctant to be sent to Afghanistan on his fourth deployment in December.

He said: “Somebody was gravely injured at his base the day before the alleged incident and that affected all of the soldiers.”

The unnamed 3rd Stryker Brigade serviceman, from America’s Midwest, was attached to a “village stability operation” on February 1. Mr Browne said he was highly decorated and was once nominated for a Bronze Star.

In tours of Iraq, he suffered a head injury in a car crash caused by a bomb and a battle-related injury resulting in surgery to remove part of his foot.

He was screened by doctors after the head injury before he redeployed, said the lawyer. He did not know if his client had post-traumatic stress disorder but said it could be an issue at his trial. Mr Browne — who once defended serial killer Ted Bundy — said the soldier and his brigade were initially told they would not have to go to Afghanistan.

He said the 38-year-old married serviceman has two children aged three and four but refused to name him amid concerns for his family, who are under protection at an Army base in the US.

Mr Browne said he spoke briefly by phone to the soldier, whom he descri- bed as stunned and distant, and added that the family were “totally shocked”. The lawyer added: “He has never said anything antagonistic about Muslims. He is in general very mild-mannered.”

The soldier is suspected of going on a shooting rampage in villages near his base last Sunday, killing nine children and seven other civilians and then burning some of their bodies.

A Turkish army helicopter crashed into a house in the Afghan capital Kabul today, killing at least 12 peacekeeping soldiers and two children.