Afghan Victims' Families Paid $50,000 for Each One Who Died

The United States Military provided the relatives of 17 people killed in a shooting rampage by a US soldier in southern Afghanistan compensation for their losses Sunday at a private ceremony in the Kandahar provincial governor's office. The relatives received approximately $50,000-some reports state that the amount is closer to $46,000-for each person who died and $11,000 per injured person. No explanation was offered as to why the number climbed to 17 from the original number given of 16 dead.


These payments far exceed the usual payments made to civilians whose relatives are killed in military operations there, but the United States. hopes it will help to mend the damage the shootings caused. In Afghanistan, demands for speedy justice exist, and under Islamic law, diya, the offer of blood money common in the Afghan culture, can mitigate against revenge on the perpetrators of violence. Often a death sentence will be commuted to imprisonment if relatives agree to accept payment.

U.S. investigators now believe that Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bates left the base twice to commit the murders. After his first attack, they theorize that he returned to base and later sneaked out to kill again. Friday, he was formally charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder in connection with a nighttime raid on two remote Afghan villages. In all, nine children and eight adults were murdered during the pre-dawn hours on March 11.