Lawyer: Afghan suspect's friend had leg blown off

Afghan security forces are seen after Taliban militants opened fire on delegation of senior Afghan officials in Panjwai, Kandahar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, March. 13, 2012. Taliban militants opened fire Tuesday on a delegation of senior Afghan officials including two of President Hamid Karzai's brothers visiting villages in southern Afghanistan where a U.S. soldier is suspected of killing 16 civilians. (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)

SEATTLE (AP) -- A lawyer for the U.S. soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan villagers last weekend says his client saw his friend's leg blown off the day before the rampage.

Seattle attorney John Henry Browne tells The Associated Press that according to his client's family, he was standing next to another U.S. soldier when that soldier was gravely injured.

Browne says all of the soldiers at the remote camp where his client was assigned were upset by the injury. It's not clear whether that might have prompted the killings of the civilians, who included women and children.

AP IMPACT: Military sex abuse victims seek VA help

Comments are posted from viewers like you and do not always reflect the views of this station.

Offbeat Headlines

More Offbeat Headlines