May 25, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 19, 1429

KABUL, May 24: Afghan officials expressed outrage on Saturday at the decision by the US military not to charge US Marines involved in a shooting spree that left 19 Afghan civilians dead in 2007.

US military officials said on Friday that no criminal charges will be brought against two US Marines officers in a unit accused of firing indiscriminately at vehicles and civilians after their convoy was hit by a suicide bomber on March 4, 2007, in eastern Nangarhar province.

“I am very angry,” said Kubra Aman, a senator from Nangarhar. “This is too much. They are killing people. First, they say it is a mistake, and after that they let them go without charges.”

Afghan witnesses and a report by Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission concluded that a unit of Marine special operations troops opened fire along a 16 kilometre stretch of road, killing up to 19 civilians and wounding 50 other people.

However, Lt-Gen Samuel Helland, the commander of US Marine Corps Forces, Central Command, decided not to bring charges against Maj Fred C. Galvin, commander of the 120-person special operations company, and Capt Vincent J. Noble, a platoon leader, the Marines said.

Helland determined that the Marines in the convoy “acted appropriately and in accordance with the rules of engagement and tactics, techniques and procedures in place at the time in response to a complex attack,” the Marines said.

The ruling was made after reviewing the findings of a special tribunal that heard more than three weeks of testimony in January.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan criticised the decision.

“It is disappointing that no one has been held accountable for these deaths,” said Aleem Siddique, a spokesman for the mission. “The United Nations has always made clear that there must be increased transparency and accountability of all parties to this conflict if we are to retain the trust and confidence of the Afghan people,” Siddique said.

Fazel Hadi Muslimyar, the head of the provincial council in Nangarhar province, called the decision not to charge the two officers “illegal.”

“When the incident happened, American officers came to us and they apologised, and said that this was a mistake by our soldiers,” Muslimyar said. “How come that mistake was not acted upon and they were not charged?”

Aman and Muslimyar both said they expect protests in Nangarhar once local people learn of the decision.—AP