Military will seek death penalty in Afghan massacre case

The Army will seek the death penalty against Staff Sgt. Robert Bales for the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians in March, the Associated Press is reporting.

Military officials announced their decision Wednesday in the case against Bales, who is awaiting a court martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in near Seattle.

Bales is accused of murdering 16 civilians in two villages in March, including nine children.

At his pre-trial hearing last month, Army prosecutor Lt. Col. Joseph Morse gave the first detailed account of the attack, in which Bales allegedly returned to his base after going to one village before heading out to the second.

Bales’s civilian lawyer told the AP that he met with Army officials last week to argue Bales should not face the death penalty because he was serving his fourth deployment in a war zone.

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