Photos: Witnesses of an Afghan massacre
May 16, 2013
Masooma sits with her children at her brother-in-law's house on the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan on Saturday, April 20, 2013. In an interview, Masooma recounted the events of pre-dawn March 11, 2012 when she says a U.S. soldier rampaged through two villages killing 16 people, including her husband. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales of Lake Tapps, Washington, is accused of the killings. Bales has not entered a plea, but his lawyers have not disputed his involvement in the killings. The Army is seeking the death penalty. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
Maulvi Mohammed Baran, right, the brother-in-law of Masooma, whose husband was killed on March 11, 2012, stands at his home on the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan surrounded by his children and Masooma's children. In an interview, Masooma recounted the events of pre-dawn March 11, 2012 when she says a U.S. soldier rampaged through two villages killing 16 people, including her husband. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
Said Jan speaks during an interview in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Sunday, April 21, 2013 recalling the morning of March 11, 2012, when he returned home to find his wife and three other family members had been killed and two of his grandchildren wounded. U.S. soldier Robert Bales is accused of the rampage through two villages, killing 16 Afghans, most of them women and children. Said Jan said he went to the United States expecting justice. "I thought we were going to America to see him hanged," he said. "Instead they showed us a courtroom and kept us in rooms asking us more and more questions." Said Jan said he wasn't interested in returning for the trial. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
Mohammed Wazir sits with his only surviving son, Habib Shahin, 3, in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Monday, April 22, 2013 as he talks about the events of March 11, 2012 when a U.S. soldier burst into his family's home. Wazir returned to his home that morning to find 11 members of his family dead, their bodies partially burned. The youngest among the dead was his 1-year-old daughter Palawan Shah. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales of Lake Tapps, Washington, is accused of the killings. Bales has not entered a plea, but his lawyers have not disputed his involvement. The Army is seeking the death penalty. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
Rafiullah, 16, talks in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Sunday, April 21, 2013 about pre-dawn March 11, 2012, when he says a U.S. soldier burst into his family house. Rafiullah remembers him smashing through the door waving his pistol. Awakened in a room with his grandmother and his sister, Zardana, Rafiullah said they didn't know what to do. "We just ran and he ran after us." (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
Masooma's son, Naseebullah, plays with his sisters and cousins in the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan on Saturday, April 20, 2013. In an interview, his mother recounted the events of pre-dawn March 11, 2012 when a U.S. soldier rampaged through two villages killing 16 people, including Naseebullah's father. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012 courtroom sketch, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, second from left, sits next to Emma Scanlan, left, his civilian attorney, as they listen to military prosecutor Maj. Rob Stelle, right, make his closing statements to Investigating Officer Col. Lee Deneke, second from upper right, on the final day of a preliminary hearing for Bales at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state. Bales is accused of 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder for a pre-dawn attack on two villages in Kandahar Province in Afghanistan on March 11, 2012. Bales has not entered a plea, but his lawyers have not disputed his involvement in the killings. The Army is seeking the death penalty. (AP Photo/Lois Silver) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
The niece of Masooma plays at her home on the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan on Saturday, April 20, 2013. In an interview, her aunt recounted the events of pre-dawn March 11, 2012 when she says a U.S. soldier rampaged through two villages killing 16 people, including her husband. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
Naseebullah, left, and Azatullah sit together in the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan on Saturday, April 20, 2013. In an interview, their mother, Masooma, recounted the events of a pre-dawn last year when a U.S. soldier rampaged through two villages killing 16 people, including their father. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
CAPTION CORRECTION, CORRECTS LOCATION OF ATTACKS - Shahara, now 3, sits tucked inside the shawl of her mother, Masooma, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Saturday, April 20, 2013 as Masooma recalls the night she says a U.S. soldier killed her husband and attacked her children in a southern Afghanistan village. Masooma says the soldier grabbed Shahara's pony tails and shook her head violently after killing her father. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( CORRECTION Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
Masooma's nieces play hide and seek at their home on the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan on Saturday, April 20, 2013. In an interview, their aunt recounted the events of pre-dawn March 11, 2012 when she says a U.S. soldier rampaged through two villages killing 16 people, including her husband. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
Naseebullah, left, plays with his siblings and cousins at the cousins' home in the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan on Saturday, April 20, 2013. In an interview, his mother, Masooma, recounted the events of a pre-dawn attack last year when a U.S. soldier rampaged through two southern Afghanistan villages killing 16 people, including her husband. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
Zardana, 11, sits as she talks in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Monday, April 22, 2013 about a pre-dawn last year when a U.S. soldier burst into her family's home. Zardana said her visiting cousin saw the soldier chasing them and ran to help, but he was shot and killed. "We couldn't stop. We just wanted somewhere to hide. I was holding on to my grandmother and we ran to our neighbors." (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
Zardana, 11, holds the hand of her father, Samiullah, after an interview in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Monday, April 22, 2013. Surviving family members said a U.S. soldier attacked their home on March 11, 2012, shooting her in the head. Zardana spent about two months recovering at the Kandahar Air Base hospital and three more at a naval hospital in San Diego receiving rehabilitation therapy, accompanied by her father, Samiullah. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( APTOPIX Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
Mohammed Wazir, left, and his only surviving son, Habib Shahin show pictures or their killed relatives during an interview in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Monday, April 22, 2013. On March 11, 2012, a U.S. soldier burst into their home, and Wazir returned the morning after the attack to find 11 members of his family dead, their bodies partially burned. The youngest among the dead was his one year old daughter Palawan Shah. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales of Lake Tapps, Washington, is accused of the killings. Bales has not entered a plea, but his lawyers have not disputed his involvement in the killings. The Army is seeking the death penalty. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( APTOPIX Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
This Saturday, April 20, 2013 photo shows 8-year-old son, Hikmatullah, in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He said he remembers the sight of the attacker in full military uniform. "I was so afraid. I pretended I was asleep." His mother, Masooma, said the soldier found him and punched him repeatedly in the head. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) ( Afghanistan Massacre Witnesses )
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