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The US Army has said it will seek the death penalty for a soldier charged in the killing of 16 Afghan villagers during a pre-dawn raid.
Staff Sergeant Robert Bales is accused of going on a shooting rampage in two southern Afghanistan villages on March 11.
Wednesday's announcement followed Bales' pre-trial hearing last month, during which several witnesses testified from Afghanistan via video conference.
Prosecutors say Bales left his remote base early, attacking one village before returning to the base. He allegedly slipped away again to attack a second nearby village. Sixteen people were killed, including nine children.
No date has been set for Bales' court martial, which will be held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle.
Bales' civilian lawyer, John Henry Browne, did not immediately return an email seeking comment Wednesday.
But on Tuesday, he told the AP that he met with Army officials last week to argue that Bales should not face the possibility of the death penalty, given that Bales was serving his fourth deployment in a war zone.
Bales' defence team has said the government's case is incomplete and outside experts have said a key issue going forward will be to determine whether Bales, who served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
An Army criminal investigations command special agent testified at the pre-trial hearing that Bales tested positive for steroids three days after the killings, and other soldiers testified that Bales had been drinking the evening of the massacre.
Prosecutors, in asking for a court-martial trial, have pointed to statements Bales made after he was apprehended, saying that they demonstrated "a clear memory of what he had done, and consciousness of wrong-doing."
Several soldiers testified at the hearing that Bales returned to the base alone just before dawn, covered in blood, and that he made incriminating statements such as, "I thought I was doing the right thing."
The slayings drew such angry protests that the US temporarily halted combat operations in Afghanistan, and it was three weeks before American investigators could reach the crime scenes.
source: Sky News
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