‘Rogue’ US soldier kills 16 Afghan civilians

Karzai demanded an explanation from the United States, adding new tensions to a relationship already severely strained over Americans burning Muslim holy books on a base in Afghanistan.

The burnings sparked violent protests and attacks that left some 30 people dead. Six US service members have been killed in attacks by their Afghan colleagues since the Koran burnings came to light, but the violence had started to calm down.

Mr Karzai said: “This is an assassination, an intentional killing of innocent civilians and cannot be forgiven.”

Five people were wounded in the pre-dawn attack in Kandahar province, including a 15-year-old boy named Rafiullah who was shot in the leg and spoke to the president over the telephone.

He described how the American soldier entered his house in the middle of the night, woke up his family and began shooting them, according to Mr Karzai’s statement.

Nato officials apologised for the shootings but did not confirm that anyone was killed, referring instead to reports of deaths.

A statement from Lieutenant General Adrian Bradshaw, the deputy commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, said: “I wish to convey my profound regrets and dismay at the actions apparently taken by one coalition member in Kandahar province.

“One of our soldiers is reported to have killed and injured a number of civilians in villages adjacent to his base. I cannot explain the motivation behind such callous acts, but they were in no way part of authorised ISAF (Nato’s International Security Assistance Force) military activity.”

Nato spokesman Justin Brockhoff said a US service member had been detained at a Nato base as the alleged gunman. The wounded people were evacuated to Nato medical facilities, he added.

The attack took place in two villages in the Panjwai district of southern Kandahar province. The villages are about 500 yards away from a US base.

A resident of the village of Alkozai, Abdul Baqi, said that, based on accounts of his neighbours, the American gunman went into three different houses and opened fire.

General John Allen, the top US commander in Afghanistan, pledged a “rapid and thorough investigation”