US soldier who killed 16 Afghans identified

The US military has not named him officially. Pentagon says its policy is to wait until a soldier is charged. He faces possible criminal charges,Pentagon officials said.

Bales is a 38-year-old staff sergeant,husband,father of two young children and a veteran who was in the midst of his fourth tour in a war zone. John Henry Browne,a defence attorney from Seattle,confirmed his clients identity, the Fox news channel reported.

Browne said the sergeant,now living in Washington state,has two children,aged three and four. The sergeants family says they saw no signs of aggression or anger. They were totally shocked by accounts of the massacre,Browne said. Hes never said anything antagonistic about Muslims. Hes in general very mild-mannered, he was quoted as saying by the news channel.

Browne,who said he has met with the family and talked with the suspect,cited a need to protect family members in declining to release the soldiers name. The news channel said reporters swarmed Bales neighbourhood in Lake Tapps,in Washington state on Friday night.

The soldier,who went on a shooting spree killing 16 civilians,including nine children in Afghanistan last week,had snapped under high stress of long combat tours,familial tensions and alcohol.

Bales is reported to have completed 20 hours of anger-management counselling following a 2002 arrest at a hotel for investigation of assault. Browne told the Fox news that the case involved a woman who was not his wife.Lalit K Jha