WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is disputing claims by Afghans near the villages where a U.S. soldier is alleged to have killed 16 civilians that there had been a roadside bombing in that vicinity a few days earlier that wounded U.S. soldiers.
A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. John Kirby, told reporters that U.S. officials have no indication that such an attack happened.
He also disputed a claim by villagers that U.S. troops lined them up against a wall after the roadside bombing and told them that they would pay a price for the attack.
Villagers have said they are convinced that the March 11 killings, allegedly by Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, were in retaliation for the earlier bombing.
U.S. criminal charges are expected to be filed soon against Bales.
