In the wake of an alleged brutal attack by an American soldier that left 16 Afghan civilians dead and burned on Sunday, the Taliban has vowed revenge against NATO forces. The shootings of mostly women and children took place in Sunday's pre-dawn hours in Kandahar province, when an Army staff sergeant allegedly left his southern Afghanistan base and went into homes of nearby villages Balandi and Alkozai, executing families while they slept. NATO leaders said an investigation was under way and that a suspect was in custody, but would not confirm the number of civilians killed. President Hamid Karzai said the "intentional killing of innocent civilians" could not be forgiven. A Taliban website vowed revenge against "sick-minded American savages," and negotiations between the al-Qaida-linked militant group and the Afghan government were halted. The attacks come in an already bad year for NATO-Afghan relations; last month the country erupted in protests after US troops burned Qura! ns and other holy books in a trash incinerator.
