Staff Sgt. Robert Bales identified as soldier accused in Afghan killings

A U.S. official says the alleged shooter is U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales. In a statement, the office of Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the killings have “damaged the U.S. and Afghan relationship.”

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Aug. 23, 2011

A senior U.S. official says the accused shooter in the killings of 16 civilians is U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, left, in this file photo.

Spc. Ryan Hallock / AP

March 16, 2012

The Lake Tapps, Wash. home of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.

Ted S. Warren / AP

March 15, 2012

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, center, shakes hands with his Afghan counterpart, Abdul Rahim Wardak, in Kabul. Afghan lawmakers expressed anger Thursday over the U.S. move to fly an American soldier accused of killing 16 civilians out of the country to Kuwait, saying Kabul shouldn't sign a strategic partnership agreement with Washington unless the suspect faces justice in Afghanistan.

Mohammad Ismail / AP

March 15, 2012

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, leans forward during a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. An Afghan died after trying to ram a truck at U.S. Marines waiting to greet the Pentagon chief in an unprecedented security breach, overshadowing what was billed as a fence-mending visit. The still puzzling incident, which American officials took 10 hours to confirm, took place as Panetta flew into the high-security Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan on March 14, ahead of talks with Afghan leaders.

Mohammad Ismail / AFP/Getty Images

March 14, 2012

Maj. Matt O'Donnell of Glenelg, Md., shields himself from rotor wash as Ospreys carrying the delegation of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta leave from Forward Operating Base Shukvani, Afghanistan.

Scott Olson / AP

March 14, 2012

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta holds a town hall meeting with coalition forces shortly after arriving at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan.

Scott Olson / AP

March 14, 2012

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta greets troops passing through the Transit Center at Manas, near Bishkek.

/ Reuters

March 14, 2012

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is greeted by Col. John Shafer after arriving to greet troops at Forward Operating Base Shukvani, Afghanistan.

Scott Olson / AP

March 13, 2012

An Afghan protester shouts anti-U.S. slogans during a demonstration in Jalalabad province, against Sunday's shooting of at least 16 villagers by a U.S. Army staff sergeant in the volatile Afghan province of Kandahar. The shootings triggered a protest by about 2,000 students in the eastern city of Jalalabad, the first since Sunday's attack, who called for the U.S. soldier to be prosecuted by Afghan authorities in Kandahar.

Parwiz / Reuters

March 13, 2012

Demonstrators chant anti-U.S. slogans as they carry a red cross following Sunday's killing of civilians in Panjwai, Kandahar by a U.S. soldier during a protest in Jalalabad, east of Kabul.

Rahmat Gul / AP

March 13, 2012

A demonstrator writes on an effigy depicting President Obama before setting it on fire following Sunday's killing of civilians in Panjwai, Kandahar, by a U.S. soldier.

Rahmat Gul / AP

March 13, 2012

Afghans chant anti-U.S. slogans as they carry an effigy depicting President Obama following Sunday's killing of civilians in Panjwai, Kandahar.

Rahmat Gul / AP

March 13, 2012

Afghan protesters shout anti-U.S. slogans during a demonstration in Jalalabad province, against Sunday's shooting of at least 16 villagers by a U.S. Army staff sergeant in the volatile Afghan province of Kandahar.

Parwiz / Reuters

March 12, 2012

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, third from right, inspects the equipment of German troops in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. Soldiers are not identified. Merkel made a one-day trip Monday to visit German troops in northern Afghanistan and offered President Hamid Karzai her condolences over the killing of 16 civilians by a U.S. soldier, the government said.

Kristina Dunz / AP

March 12, 2012

An Afghan policeman, left, stands guard as a colleague, right, searches a taxi passenger at a police checkpoint following Sunday's killing of civilians by a U.S. soldier in Kandahar province, south of Kabul.

Allauddin Khan / AP

March 12, 2012

An Afghan child watches a security checkpoint, unseen, following Sunday's killing of civilians by a U.S. soldier in Kandahar province, south of Kabul.

Allauddin Khan / AP

March 12, 2012

An Afghan policeman, left, stands guard as a colleague searches a car at a checkpoint following Sunday's killing of civilians in Panjwai by a U.S. soldier in Kandahar province south of Kabul.

Allauddin Khan / AP

March 12, 2012

Taliban militants, part of a group of a hundred Afghan Talibans, hand over their weapons as they take part in the Afghan government's reconciliation and reintegration program in Laghman province.

Parwiz / Reuters

March 12, 2012

A U.S. soldier guides a Taliban militant, part of a group of a hundred Afghan Talibans, as he hands over his weapons as part of the Afghan government's reconciliation and reintegration program in Laghman province.

Parwiz / Reuters

March 11, 2012

Afghan security forces stand guard outside a home where witnesses say Afghans were killed by a U.S. soldier in Panjwai, Kandahar province south of Kabul.

Allauddin Khan / AP

March 11, 2011

President Obama talks on the phone with Afghan President Hamid Karzai from his vehicle outside the Jane E. Lawton Community Recreation Center in Chevy Chase. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta also called Karzai to express condolences, and he vowed to hold those responsible accountable, after an American soldier wandered off a military base and allegedly gunned down more than a dozen villagers in Afghanistan.

Pete Souza / The White House via AP

March 11, 2011

An Afghan youth mourns family members who were killed in the Panjwai district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, south of Kabul. A U.S. service member is being held in the attack.

Allauddin Khan / AP

March 11, 2011

An elderly man sits in a minibus next to a covered body in Kandahar province. U.S. officials are holding a soldier who wandered off base and allegedly opened fire on civilians.

Allauddin Khan / AP

March 11, 2011

Afghan men investigate at the site of a shooting in Kandahar province.

Ahmad Nadeem / Reuters

March 11, 2011

An armored military vehicle from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force sits at right, alongside a minibus with a covered body.

Allauddin Khan / AP

March 11, 2011

A mourner cries over the bodies of Afghan civilians, allegedly shot by a rogue U.S. soldier, that have been loaded into the back of a truck in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province.

JANGIR / AFP/Getty Images

March 11, 2011

An Afghan soldier speaks to civilians gathered outside a military base in Panjwai. Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the shootings an "assassination" and demanded an explanation from U.S. officials.

Allauddin Khan / AP

March 11, 2011

A man sits in the back of a truck with the bodies of several men and a child.

Allauddin Khan / AP

March 11, 2011

Residents transport the bodies of the dead in Panjwai district.

Mustafa Khan / European Pressphoto Agency

March 11, 2011

U.S. armored vehicles are parked outside a U.S. base in Panjwai district. Officials are holding an American soldier who allegedly wandered off base and opened fire on civilians.

Ahmad Nadeem / Reuters

March 11, 2011

Afghan soldiers, left, walk past a U.S. soldier outside a military base in Panjwai, the district of Afghanistan where the shootings took place.

Allauddin Khan / AP

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