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April 27th,
2007 - Criminal Charges Are Expected Against Marines, Official Says News article by the New York
Times |
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Criminal Charges
Are Expected Against Marines, Official Says By Paul von Zielbauer New York Times April 27, 2007 The Marine Corps is
expecting criminal charges against at least five marines from a Special
Operations unit that killed 10 civilians in eastern Afghanistan last month
after a suicide bomb attack on their patrol convoy, a marine official said
yesterday. Marine and civilian lawyers
involved in the case have been told to expect charges against five to seven
marines involved in the shootings, possibly including one officer, said the
marine official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official added that a
formal inquiry by naval investigators is continuing and could result in fewer
or no marines being charged. The official declined to provide the names or
ranks of those likely to be charged. At least two marines have
hired civilian lawyers, said a government official with knowledge of the
developing case. The Marine unit involved in
the shootings arrived in Afghanistan in February, the first to be deployed
from a new Special Operations Command formed by the Marine Corps last year to
carry out specialized reconnaissance, intelligence and commando missions. Several marines among about
30 who were on patrol began firing at civilians along a stretch of road near
Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan, after a suicide bomber in a vehicle rammed
their convoy and detonated his explosives, according to a preliminary
investigation by the American military. No marines were killed in the
attack, but several marines, believing they were under small arms fire, began
firing at bystanders near the scene and along the roadside as the convoy sped
away, the military investigation found. Over several miles, marines
killed at least 10 civilians and wounded 33 others, including women and
elderly men, according to the military investigation, which was ordered by
Maj. Gen. Frank Kearney of the Army, the commander of all American Special
Operations forces in the region. The investigation found no evidence that the
marines were being fired upon. A separate investigation by
the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said the marines had
killed 12 civilians and injured 35 others. The killings recall a
similarly violent reaction by marines in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005, after a
roadside bomb killed one of their comrades. In that incident, in the heart of
a region rife with Sunni Arab insurgents, marines killed 24 unarmed Iraqis,
including women and children in their beds, in a sweep of homes near the
road. After the killings in
Afghanistan last month, General Kearney ordered the marines’ whole company to
leave the country and referred the matter to the Naval Criminal Investigative
Service. The unit remains stationed
somewhere in the Middle East but is expected to return to its base at Camp
Lejeune, N.C., in coming weeks. A second Marine Special Operations company,
at Camp Pendleton, Calif., is to deploy soon, said a marine spokesman, who
would not say where the unit is headed. Maj. Cliff Gilmore, a
spokesman for the Marine Special Operations Command, known as Marsoc, said
the group’s commanders had not been advised about any impending charges
against marines in the incident. Copyright 2007 The New York
Times Company External link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/27/world/asia/27abuse.html Marines Recalled During
Investigation Investigation Continues Into Civilian Deaths In Afghanistan; Some
Marines Recalled To Lejeune Associated Press April 27, 2007 Camp Lejeune, N.C., - Eight
members of a Marine Corps company involved in the fatal shooting of civilians
during an ambush last month in Afghanistan were brought back to Camp Lejeune
while an investigation continues, a base spokesman said Friday. The March 4 shootings -
which came after a minivan rigged with explosives rammed the Marines' convoy
- left 12 people dead including a 1-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl,
according to a report by Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission. The panel said Marines fired
indiscriminately at pedestrians, motorists and public transportation
passengers along a stretch of road in Nangahar province. The special operations
company commander, the senior sergeant and six members of the company were
recalled to their base at Camp Lejeune earlier this month, said Maj. Cliff
Gilmore, spokesman for the Marine Corps Special Operation Command. The rest of the company of
120 Marines, part of the 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, was ordered
out of Afghanistan after the incident but remains deployed in the region. A senior U.S. defense
official told The Associated Press on April 11 that a U.S. military commander
determined that the Marines used excessive force and referred the case for
possible criminal inquiry. The official spoke on condition of anonymity
because the probe's results have not been released. Gilmore said he didn't know
when the Navy's probe would be completed. No charges have been filed, and
Gilmore didn't release the names of the Marines brought back to the North
Carolina base. "What I expect is a
very detailed and thorough investigation," Gilmore said. Gilmore said the company has
a new company commander and senior sergeant. The unit had left Camp Lejeune
in January for a six-month deployment aboard Navy ships with 2,200 Marines
and sailors. Copyright 2007 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. External link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/27/ap/national/main2736202.shtml |