The US occupation soldier who killed and burned 16 Afghan civilians was held at an American prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

The US occupation soldier who killed and burned 16 Afghan civilians was held at an American prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

 The soldier, identified Friday as US Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, had served three combat tours in Iraq, and was on his first deployment to Afghanistan.

US media identified Bales, 38, as the shooter, and a US official speaking on condition of anonymity told Agence France Press the reports were correct.

Bales left his base in the southern province of Kandahar before sunrise Sunday entered an Afghan village and opened fire, killing men, women and children.

The incident has plunged US-Afghan relations into the deepest crisis since the 2001 US-led invasion.

The relations were already strained after US occupation troops burned copies of the holy Quran at US airbase of Bagram.
The US military has not officially released the soldier's name, nor charged him with a crime yet.