Man accused of killing 16 ‘cracked after friend lost leg in bomb blast’

Staff Sergeant Robert Bales is due to be formally indicted over the massacre – which has further damaged fraught relations between Washington and Kabul – in the coming days, military sources have said.

A portrait of the accused man as a physically and psychologically damaged soldier has emerged, with financial and professional pressures adding to the stress of four active tours of duty.

Bales is accused of embarking on a night-time killing spree in two villages close to his southern Afghanistan base. During the attack, the US sergeant went door to door, shooting or stabbing to death 16 innocent villagers, setting some of them on fire.

Among those slain were nine children, with 11 victims belonging to one family.

Military officials have said that the 38-year-old was drinking at his base on the evening of the rampage, but what set off the deadly attack is not known. Bales was in his fourth tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan at the time of the incident.

The multiple deployments appear to have taken a toll on the father-of-two, both mentally and physically.

While in Iraq in 2010, a military vehicle he was travelling flipped over, possibly as the result of a roadside bomb. It is thought that he suffered a head injury as a result.

The day before he allegedly embarked on his deadly rampage, Bales witnessed a fellow soldier have his leg blown off.

It may have been the tipping point for an already troubled mind, it has been suggested.

The killings came as the US attempts to overcome a backlash from the accidental burning of copies of the Koran at a US military base.

Afghan president Hamid Karzai was quoted as calling both Americans and the Taleban “demons in our country”, with the US guilty of committing “satanic acts” in relation to the destruction of religious texts.

Yesterday, Eklil Hakimi, the Afghan ambassador to the US, said his country was still committed to its ties with America while defending the statements by Mr Karzai.

“Our president is doing what any legitimate president would do,” he told CNN, adding: “He is reflecting whatever our people are saying.”

Bales is currently being kept in isolation at a military detention centre at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, having been flown back from Afghanistan to face charges. His wife and two children have been given federal protection.

The accused soldier is expected to face trial in the US after being formally indicted over the 16 deaths. A lawyer is due to meet with the Bales today.

Those who knew him have told of an exemplary soldier who had “saved lives” during his time in war zones.

Army captain Chris Alexander, who was deployed to Iraq with Bales, said: “He’s one of the best guys I ever worked with.

But outside of his army career, strains existed. Reports suggest that the family were struggling with mortgage repayments, while there had also been brushes with the law during Bales’s time on home leave.

Last year Bales received the disappointment of being passed over for a military promotion.

His wife Karilyn wrote in a blog last March of her hopes that the family may be able to choose Bales next deployment, citing Germany, Italy and Hawaii as potential locations.

Instead Bales was separated from his family once again and in December 2011 he returned to Afghanistan.