USD 50,000 US compensation for Afghan shooting spree

The families of the dead were paid USD 50,000 at the Kandahar governor’s office,the official said,adding that they were told that the compensation was paid by US President Barak Obama.

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is accused of sneaking out of his base before dawn into two villages in Panjwayi district of Kandahar province on March 11 and killing 17 people,mostly women and children while they were sleeping.

At least six people were wounded when the 38-year-old soldier fired with his 9mm pistol and M-4 rifle,which was outfitted with a grenade launcher.

A spokesman for NATO and US forces,however,refused to discuss the issue of the payments,saying these were sensitive topic.

Reports said that the families had earlier received smaller compensation payments from Afghan officials USD 2,000 for each death and USD 1,000 for each person wounded.

Bales has been formally charged with 17 counts of murder of civilians,including women and children.

He was also charged with six counts of attempted murder over attacks on a man,a woman and four children in southern Afghanistan on March 11,the Los Angeles Times reported.

The charges were given to Bales at the high-security Army prison at Ft. Leavenworth in the US.

The incident has deeply shaken US-Afghan relations and fueled outrage against the US and its continued presence in that country.