• Slain London soldier was 'loving father' who served in Afghanistan

    Ministry of Defence

    Drummer Lee Rigby was identified Thursday as the soldier killed in London in a suspected terror attack on Wednesday.

    By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News

    The British soldier brutally killed in London in a suspected terror attack was a drummer in a military band who had served in Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday.

    Lee Rigby, 25, known as “Riggers” to his friends, was killed in broad daylight on Wednesday as he walked in Woolwich, South London, near an army barracks.

    Two suspects allegedly brutally murdered a young soldier in London Monday with large knives as terrified witnesses looked on. Top British security officials are calling the murder a terrorist attack. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.

    In a statement, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said Rigby, who served with the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was “a loving father” to his two-year-old son Jack.

    “An extremely popular and witty soldier, Drummer Rigby was a larger than life personality within the Corps of Drums and was well known, liked and respected across the Second Fusiliers,” the statement said.

    “He will be sorely missed by all who knew him. The Regiment’s thoughts and prayers are with his family during this extremely difficult time,” it added. “Once a Fusilier, always a Fusilier.”

    The statement said Rigby was born in Manchester, England and had joined the army in 2006.

    It said he had been deployed on operation in Helmand province, Afghanistan, in April 2009, “where he served as a member of the Fire Support Group in Patrol Base Woqab.”

    Rigby had previously helped guard the U.K.’s royal palaces. “He was an integral member of the Corps of Drums throughout the Battalion’s time on public duties, the highlight of which was being a part of the Household Division’s Beating the Retreat - a real honour for a line infantry Corps of Drums,” the statement said.

    A mother who confronted a man suspected of killing a British soldier yesterday says she did so in an "act of instinct."

    He had also served with his unit in Cyprus and Germany. In 2011, Rigby began a recruiting post in London and assisted with duties at the Tower of London.

    The commanding officer of the Second Fusiliers, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Taylor, said Rigby was “a dedicated and professional soldier.”

    “Larger than life, he was at the heart of our Corps of Drums. An experienced and talented side drummer and machine gunner, he was a true warrior and served with distinction in Afghanistan, Germany and Cyprus,” he said.

    His platoon commander from 2010 to 2011, Captain Alan Williamson said “Riggers” was a “cheeky and humorous man, always there with a joke to brighten the mood.”

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  • Soldier sentenced to life without parole for killing 5 at combat stress clinic in Iraq

    Jessica Rinaldi / Russell family via Reuters, file

    Sgt. John Russell was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing five fellow service members at a base in Iraq in 2009.

    An Army sergeant was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for the 2009 killings of five fellow service members at a combat stress clinic in Iraq.

    A military judge, Army Col. David Conn, found Sgt. John Russell guilty of premeditated murder on Monday and imposed the sentence Thursday morning. The only other possible penalty for Russell would have been life in prison with the possibility of release.

    Russell will be transferred within the next several days to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield said late Thursday.

    The 14-year veteran from Sherman, Texas, had previously pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table. Under the agreement, prosecutors were allowed to try to prove to an Army judge at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that the killings were premeditated. A streamlined court-martial ended Saturday.

    The shooting was one of the worst instances of soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war and raised questions about the mental stresses of serving repeated tours of duty.

    Killed in the 2009 shooting in Baghdad were Navy Cmdr. Charles Springle, of Wilmington, N.C., and four Army personnel: Pfc. Michael Edward Yates Jr., of Federalsburg, Md.; Dr. Matthew Houseal, of Amarillo, Texas; Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, of Paterson, N.J.; and Spc. Jacob D. Barton, of Lenox, Mo.

    Russell's lawyers argued that he was deluded by depression and despair at the time. An Army mental health board found that Russell suffered from severe depression with psychotic features and post-combat stress.

    Russell had long sought help with sleep troubles and was stammering and crying for help in the days before the shooting. His commanders were so alarmed that they disarmed him and sent him for repeated visits to mental health clinics, said attorney James Culp.

    However, prosecutors argued that Russell was trying to paint himself as mentally ill in an attempt to win early retirement — just as he was facing a sexual harassment complaint that could derail his career and his benefits.

    The day before the killings, psychiatrist Michael Jones told him that a mental disability retirement would require "some kind of suicidal psychotic crisis," Maj. Daniel Mazzone said during closing arguments, according to the Los Angeles Times.

    But when Russell saw Jones again the next day, the psychiatrist said he had no intention of giving him "a golden ticket" out of the Army.

    When Russell returned about an hour later, prosecutors say, he was looking for Jones, but wound up killing two patients, a bystander and two other mental health workers, including Navy Cmdr. Springle, who had also briefly treated Russell in the days before the shootings. Jones escaped injury by jumping out a window.

    The Associated Press

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  • 200 strangers attend British Marine's funeral after Facebook plea

    Ben Mitchell / Press Association via AP

    The Rev. Bob Mason's Facebook plea attracted 200 mourners to the funeral of late Royal Marine James McConnell on Thursday.

    By Alastair Jamieson, Staff writer, NBC News

    LONDON -- More than 200 strangers attended a British veteran's funeral after a clergyman put out a plea on Facebook, fearing he would be buried without mourners, according to reports.

    James McConnell, who served with the U.K.'s Royal Marines, died last month aged 70.

    Staff at his nursing home in Southsea, Hampshire, thought they would be the only people at his funeral as he did not have any close family, ITV News reported.

    The Rev. Bob Mason, posted a message on Facebook and contacted the Royal Marines Association.

    The message, which was shared and reposted by members of the association and thousands of other Facebook users, said:

    "Ladies and Gentlemen, In this day and age it is tragic enough that anyone has to leave this world with no one to mourn their passing, but this man was family and I am sure you will agree deserves a better send off. If you can make it to the graveside for that time to pay your respects to a former brother in arms then please try to be there."

    Ben Mitchell / Press Association via AP

    A motorcycle procession during the funeral of James McConnell, who died last month at the age of 70.

    Hundreds responded to the message, braving the freezing temperatures to attend Thursday’s ceremony at Milton Cemetery in nearby Portsmouth.

    'Dignified burial'
    Mason, who conducted Thursday’s funeral, told local newspaper, The News: “I want to say a big thank you to all of those who turned up.

    “Many people had concerns about him being buried with no family present but now they have seen him have a dignified burial.”

    Among those attending was Arthur Bailey, 88, who was a soldier who served in several conflicts.

    "I heard about it and just wanted to come along," he told The News. "This is what the armed forces family is for. It’s a credit to everyone who turned up."

    Related:

    In wake of Benghazi, rapid response Marine unit heading to Europe

    How the US military can become a 'band of brothers and sisters'

    Full Technology and Science coverage from NBC News

  • Official: North Korean soldier kills two officers, defects to South

    By The Associated Press

    BUSAN, South Korea – A North Korean soldier claimed to have killed two of his officers before defecting to South Korea across their heavily armed border, a South Korean official said.

    The defense ministry official said the defection took place about noon Saturday across the western section of the Demilitarized Zone.


    The official declined to be identified because an interrogation of the soldier was still under way.

    Defections across the Demilitarized Zone, a buffer zone dividing the two Koreas, are rare as the 155-mile land border is heavily armed and tightly guarded. 

    US-Japan agree on new defense system to counter North Korea ballistic missiles

    The North Korean claimed that he shot dead his platoon and squad chiefs while on guard duty shortly before his border crossing, according to local media reports. 

    Hundreds of North Koreans flee each year across its northern border with China and most make their way to the South, with more than 20,000 having found refuge in the wealthy capitalist neighbor. 

    Slideshow: Daily life in North Korea

    Elizabeth Dalziel / AP

    From work to play, see pictures from inside the secretive country.

    Launch slideshow

    Most cite economic hardship and political persecution as the main reasons for leaving home. 

    The two Koreas are still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended only with a ceasefire, not a peace treaty.

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    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • US soldier who refused to go back to Iraq arrested on return from Canada

    Aaron Vincent Elkaim / AP file

    Kimberly Rivera speaks at a news conference in Toronto on Aug. 31.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    The first female American soldier to seek refuge in Canada rather than return to duty in Iraq was arrested at the U.S. border Thursday after losing her appeal against deportation, according to an advocacy group that had campaigned on her behalf.

    Kimberly Rivera, a 30-year-old private who served three months in Iraq and came to Canada while on leave in 2007, was taken into custody at the Thousand Islands Bridge border station about 30 miles north of Watertown, N.Y., Reuters reported.

    The War Resisters Support Campaign said on its website that Rivera’s partner and four children crossed the border separately as “Kimberly did not want her children to have to see her detained by the U.S. military, as this would be traumatic for them.”

    “During a Federal Court hearing in Toronto on Monday, lawyers for the Department of Justice argued that Kimberly would not be detained when she crossed the border,” the War Resisters statement said.

    “… Just as the Rivera family’s lawyer argued in court and as was predicted by her Canadian supporters, Kimberly was detained immediately upon crossing the border into the United States of America,” it added. “Kimberly now awaits punishment for refusing to return to Iraq, a conflict which Kimberly and Canada determined was wrong.”


    'Not genuine refugees'
    During the Vietnam War, Canada was a haven for tens of thousands of draft dodgers and deserters, but soldiers from Iraq, who were volunteers, have been met with little sympathy from the Canadian government.

    Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s spokeswoman, Alexis Pavlich, told The Star newspaper in an emailed statement that U.S. military personnel who had moved to Canada to avoid being deployed to Iraq were “not genuine refugees under the internationally accepted meaning of the term.”

    “These unfounded claims clog up our system for genuine refugees who are actually fleeing persecution,” she added.

    The last 480 troops left Iraq early Sunday morning in high spirits, happy to be heading home for the holidays. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

    State Department: No secret plan to invade Canada

    In an interview with The Star published Wednesday, Rivera said she had joined the army because she “wanted to fight for human rights and the safety of my country.”

    “I wanted to do something good … I grew up learning that our rights come from a soldier who gave his or her life so that we could have rights,” she added.

    'The war is over': Last US soldiers leave Iraq

    That view changed after three months in Iraq.

    “Citizens were being put on random lockdowns. We used city patrols, checkpoints and violence and intimidation against innocent civilians,” she told The Star. “We raided their houses without cause. I saw mothers and fathers and grandparents and children come to us asking for compensation for their dead loved ones. There was no good reason for their pain and suffering.”

    The paper said she described becoming a conscientious objector as “the most positive thing I’ve done.” 

    Tutu: Iraq war based on 'a lie'
    Nobel peace prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, famous for campaigning against apartheid in South Africa, made a last-ditch plea for the Canadian authorities to allow Rivera to stay.

    “When the United States and Britain made the case in 2003 for the invasion of Iraq, it was on the basis of a lie. We were told that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, and that these weapons posed an imminent threat to humanity,” he wrote in The Globe and Mail newspaper Monday.

    NBC's Richard Engel answers your questions about Iraq

    “But those who were called to fight this war believed what their leaders had told them. … U.S. soldiers such as Kimberly Rivera, through her own experience in Iraq, came to the conclusion that the invasion had nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction. Indeed, the presence of U.S. forces only created immense misery for civilians and soldiers alike,” he said.

    Read more international stories from NBC News

    “Those leaders to whom soldiers such as Kimberly Rivera looked for answers failed a supreme moral test. More than 110,000 Iraqis have died in the conflict since 2003, millions have been displaced and nearly 4,500 American soldiers have been killed,” he added.

    The Pentagon had no immediate comment, according to Reuters.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • British soldier in Afghanistan gives birth at base attacked by Taliban

    By Ian Johnston, NBC News

    A British soldier serving in Afghanistan has given birth to a baby boy at a NATO compound attacked by the Taliban just a few days earlier, the U.K. government confirmed Thursday.

    The child was born Tuesday at a field hospital in Camp Bastion in the war-torn Helmand province, the government said in a statement.

    The mother, a gunner with the Royal Artillery, arrived in Afghanistan in March after the child was conceived, a U.K. spokeswoman confirmed. The woman only discovered she was pregnant and about to give birth when she complained of stomach pain.

    On Friday night, two U.S. personnel were killed and several others wounded in an attack on the adjoining Camp Leatherneck. The Taliban has also promised to do everything it can to kill the U.K.'s Prince Harry, who is based at Bastion.

    Two US service members killed at Afghan camp where Prince Harry is based


    The government statement said that "mother and baby are both in a stable condition in the hospital and are receiving the best possible care." 

    It said that a specialist pediatric retrieval team was being prepared and "will deploy in the next few days in order to provide appropriate care for mother and baby on the flight home."

    'Not military policy'
    The statement added that the U.K.'s defense ministry was unaware that the woman was pregnant and stressed that it was "not military policy to allow service women to deploy on operations if they are pregnant."

    "As with all medical cases, when the need arises individuals are returned to the U.K. for appropriate treatment/care," it said.

    Four US soldiers killed in Afghan 'insider' attack

    Four U.S. troops fighting with the NATO-led alliance were killed in another suspected "insider" attack in southern Afghanistan.  NBC's Atia Abawi reports.

    Lieutenant Colonel Andrea Lewis, commanding officer of the hospital, said the birth was “a unique occurrence, but my team is well rehearsed in the unexpected and they adapted brilliantly to this situation as a result.”

    “I am pleased to report that mother and baby are doing well and we are all delighted at the outcome,” she added.

    The U.K. spokeswoman told NBCNews.com that they were not currently releasing any more information about the mother and that she was not currently available for interview.

    "As I'm sure you can understand, having just had a baby she needs a bit of space," she said in an email.

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  • Portraits from the frontline: Syrian rebels pose in Aleppo

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Ammar Aldeerani, 21, a defected soldier from the Syrian security forces

    As they waited to return to the fight against government forces, rebels at a house in Marea on the outskirts of Aleppo posed for portraits for AP photographer Muhammed Muheisen. In their former lives, before the war, they were a construction worker, a farmer, even a librarian. Two of them are former government soldiers. 

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Hamzah Alhassan, 25, a former blacksmith

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Abu Muslim, 30, a former librarian

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Shadi Farrouh, 28, a former construction worker

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Abu Faris, 28, a defected officer from the Syrian security forces

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Ahmad Hussein, 22, a former factory worker

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Abu Bara', 30, a former farmer

    Slideshow: Syria uprising

    Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

    After months of protests and violent crackdowns, a look back at the violence that has overtaken the country.

    Launch slideshow

     

  • Saudi Arabia soldier shot dead amid sectarian tensions

    By Reuters

    RIYADH -- A Saudi soldier was shot dead patrolling an area populated by minority Shiite Muslims late on Friday, the Interior Ministry said, and one of the gunmen was killed in the ensuing shoot-out.

    The deaths bring to 11 the number of people killed in the Qatif area since November in protests by members of Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority over what they see as entrenched discrimination.

    "A security patrol was exposed to heavy fire from four armed rioters on motorbikes when pausing at a street intersection in Qatif," state news agency SPA reported, quoting Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Turki. 

    Turki said the gunmen had been arrested after an exchange of fire in which one of them was killed, and said another man suffering a bullet injury had been arrested at the hospital. 

    He added that the incident, which happened at 11 pm on Friday evening, had led to the death of one soldier, named as Hussein Bawah Ali Zabani, and the wounding of another, named as Saad Miteb Mohammed al-Shammari, whom he said was taken to hospital. 

    Heretical?
    Saudi Shiites mostly live in the Eastern Province, also home to the kingdom's oil industry, and complain they lack access to government jobs, education and full rights of worship, charges the government denies. 

    The world's top oil exporter follows the conservative Wahhabi school of Islam, which regards Shiism as heretical. 

    Protests broke out in Qatif last year when Saudi troops were invited by the government of neighboring Bahrain to help its Sunni royal family quash a popular uprising by the Shi'ite majority. 

    Last month a new round of protests ended with three deaths after police arrested and injured a firebrand Shiite cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, who had preached sermons urging demonstrations against the government. 

    Ten of the 11 people to have died in Qatif demonstrations since late last year were young Shiite men, killed in what Saudi Arabia said were exchanges of fire, but which local activists described as peaceful protests. 

    Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have both accused Shi'ite regional power Iran of fomenting the unrest among members of the sect in both countries, which Tehran denies. 

    The Interior Ministry in January issued a list of 23 residents of the area who it said were responsible for attacks on security forces, acting at the behest of "a foreign power", widely understood to mean Iran. 

    Shi'ites in Qatif, who often raise the Bahraini flag in shows of solidarity with their co-religionists in the tiny Gulf Arab country, have repeatedly said the protests are not organized by Iran. 

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    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • NBC News: US soldier suspected in Afghanistan massacre identified

    News that Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians has sent shockwaves through his Washington state neighborhood. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

    By Miguel Almaguer and Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News

    Updated at 11:10 ET: U.S. officials told NBC News on Friday that the soldier suspected of shooting 16 civilians in Afghanistan is Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.

    Bales, 38, was deployed to Afghanistan in December with the 3rd Stryker Brigade, based out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Tacoma, Wash., the officials said.

    Bales arrived late Friday at a U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he will be held in a solitary cell, the Army said. He was flown in from Kuwait, officials said.

    "It's a tragedy," Gen. David Rodriguez, commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command, said at the base, home to about 37,000 Army and 6,000 Air Force personnel. "Everyone knows this doesn't reflect our standards or values, nor does it reflect the soldiers that perform here and overseas. They are shocked, just as we are."

    Bales, a married father of two, has a clean record of conduct, the officials said. He joined the military after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

    "He felt it was his calling to stand up for the us after 911 and then decided to make his career the military," said his civilian attorney, John Henry Browne, who spoke to Bales on Thursday night.

    Soldier accused in Afghan massacre flown out of country

    Bales had been deployed to Iraq three times before going to Afghanistan. While in Iraq, officials say, he suffered a traumatic head injury in a crash and also suffered a foot injury in a separate incident. In Afghanistan, Bales reportedly saw a friend lose a leg.

    The U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan has been moved to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas pending a military trial. NBC's John Yang reports.

    What role those incidents may have played, if any, in the shootings, remains unclear. Browne says the soldier may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Browne also said the soldier never expected a fourth deployment.

    Shock to neighbors of soldier in Afghanistan massacre case

    "Overnight he was told he was going back and he told his family and told me that he did what he was ordered to do 'cause he was a soldier," Browne said.

    Officials are investigating reports that Bales may have been drinking before he left the base in Afghanistan on the night of the killings over the weekend. Among the dead were nine children. 

    Officials: US soldier in Afghanistan shooting spree said ‘I did it’

    Bales, a native of Ohio, has been based at Lewis-McChord his entire career. He and his family live close to Lake Tapps, a reservoir not far from the base, and have family roots in western Washington. Bales' wife is said to be an executive at a Seattle-area company.

    Sgt. Robert Bales, who is suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians, is being held in a pre-trial detention center in Leavenworth, Kansas. NBC's John Yang reports.

    Brown said the suspect's family will remain on base for the foreseeable future for their own protection.

    The Army, in a statement obtained by NBC News, said Bales will be held in pre-trial confinement at the Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility at Fort Leavenworth. The Army described the prison as a state-of-the-art, medium/minimum custody facility for pre-trial confinement and military sentences of up to five years.

    Also located on Fort Leavenworth is the Disciplinary Barracks housing military inmates sentenced to more than five years.

    Bales will be in special housing in his own cell and not in a four-person bay, the Army said. He will be afforded time outside the cell for hygiene and recreational purposes. He may have religious support.

    The correctional facility has a 464-bed capacity, but the Army said the inmate population is ever-changing. However, the number of inmates in pre-trial confinement is typically around one dozen, the Army said.

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  • Officials: US soldier in Afghanistan shooting spree said 'I did it'

    Villagers who witnessed the methodical killing are asking for an execution and the U.S. is reportedly considering charges that would carry the death penalty for the soldier who allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

    By Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News chief Pentagon correspondent

    Defense officials have told NBC News that the Army staff sergeant who allegedly shot and killed 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children, admitted his actions to fellow soldiers just before he was taken into custody.

    "I did it," he is said to have told them.

    According to the officials, a search party that included helicopters was formed after an Afghan soldier reported the American had left their small remote outpost in the early morning hours. In the meantime, the base received word that a number of civilians had been killed in a shooting spree at a nearby village.

    Overhead surveillance first spotted the soldier on his stomach in a field, either attempting to hide or crawl toward the base.  He eventually stood up and walked a short distance to the base where he was confronted and asked about the shootings at the village.  The officials say the staff sergeant replied "I did it."  At that point he was disarmed and taken into custody.  He then asked for a lawyer and has refused to talk ever since.

     

    The officials also said they’ve received reports that the soldier was having marital problems and had recently received a troubling letter or email from his wife. According to one official, after four combat deployments it’s not unusual there would be stress on the family.

    Defense officials also told NBC News that investigators have reason to believe that alcohol "may" have been a contributing factor in the shooting spree.

    The investigation found bottles of alcohol on the small remote base where the staff sergeant was deployed.  The officials emphasize "may" because they say that nowhere in the reporting from the field is there any indication the staff sergeant was inebriated.

    The soldier, reportedly married with two children, enlisted in the Army soon after the terror attacks of Sept. 11 and did three combat tours in Iraq before arriving in Kandahar, near where the shootings took place, in December 2011.

    US soldier accused in Afghan massacre had brain injury history

    Reports that the soldier had received post-traumatic stress disorder examinations are not unusual, since every soldier coming out of combat is routinely screened for PTSD.

    The soldier suffered some minor traumatic brain injury in a rollover in Iraq in 2010, but that part of his medical history does not appear at this point to be a factor, according to the officials. They also said the man has a clean medical and behavior record.

    Obama: Killing Afghans as serious as killing Americans

    Col. Gary Kolb, a spokesman for the U.S.-led military coalition in Kabul, told The Associated Press a 48-hour probable cause assessment has been completed and that the service member continues to be confined.

    Additionally, the officials told NBC News that the the military is considering capital murder charges against the soldier, meaning he could face the death penalty if convicted. They said the military also intends to conduct his court martial hearing in Afghanistan. Not only would it send the right signal to the Afghan people, officials said, but trying him in the United States or another country in the region would also present a logistics nightmare given the number of witnesses that would be expected to testify.

    Military investigators in Afghanistan hope to file charges and release the identity of the soldier by the end of the week, but warn it could take another two weeks.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    On Joint Base Lewis-McChord, where the soldier suspected of shooting 16 Afghan civilians came from, the military had previously launched an investigation into the military installation's health care system after nearly 300 soldiers had their PTSD diagnoses reversed. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

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  • Obama: Killing Afghans as serious as killing Americans

    The Obama administration is in a difficult position after the latest incidents in Afghanistan. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

    By msnbc.com and news services

     WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Tuesday said he viewed the killing of 16 Afghan civilians, allegedly by a U.S. soldier, as seriously as if those killed had been Americans.

    "The U.S. takes this as seriously as if it were our own citizens and our own children who were murdered," Obama said at the White House.

    Obama said he was directing the Pentagon to do a very thorough investigation of the weekend killings. He said the inquiry would "follow the facts" wherever they lead, and that anyone found responsible would be prosecuted fully. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the death penalty is possible if the soldier is convicted.

    Obama's message was aimed at Afghans and at Americans for whom the killings were a reminder that tens of thousands of U.S. forces are fighting in Afghanistan more than 10 years after the war began.

    Obama insisted that the killings will not change U.S. commitment to finishing the job in Afghanistan, but he was clearly trying to reassure Americans that he will close out the war.

    "Make no mistake, we have a strategy that will allow us to responsibly wind down this war," Obama said.

    Reuters

    Graphic of Afghanistan civilian casualties

    "We're steadily transitioning to the Afghans who are moving into the lead. And that's going to allow us to bring our troops home."

    He repeated the timetable for bringing forces home that he had already laid out: 23,000 troops by the end of this summer, on top of 10,000 removed last year. He did not give a schedule for withdrawal of the approximately 68,000 U.S. forces that will remain in Afghanistan at the end of this year.

    The U.S. and NATO allies agreed more than a year ago to leave forces in Afghanistan through 2014. There is political pressure in Europe, and increasingly in the United States, to speed up that deadline.

    "There's no question that we face a difficult challenge in Afghanistan, but I am confident that we can continue the work of meeting our objectives, protecting our country and responsibly bringing this war to a close," Obama said.

    Earlier Tuesday thousands of people took to the streets in eastern Afghanistan to protest the killings, burning an effigy of Obama and calling for the killer to be tried in Afghanistan.

    Demonstrators in the city of Jalalabad chanted "Death to America -- Death to Obama" and blocked the main highway to Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported.

    Noorullah Shirzada / AFP - Getty Images

    Protestors shout anti-American slogans during a demonstration in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, on Tuesday.

    "Jihad (holy war) is the only way to get the invading Americans out of Afghanistan," one banner read, according to the newspaper.

    The demonstrators also demanded that President Hamid Karzai reject plans to sign a strategic pact with Washington that would allow U.S. advisers and possibly special forces to remain beyond a 2014 deadline for foreign combat troops to leave Afghanistan.

    Meanwhile, militants attacked an Afghan government delegation that was visiting the site of the killings, the BBC reported.

    "I can confirm that the Taliban have launched an attack from several directions against a government delegation," a senior official told the BBC. "At this stage, our forces are returning fire.''

    Nine children and three women were among those killed in the massacre. According to reports, a 38-year-old staff sergeant had left his base in Panjwai district early on Sunday and broke into the victim's homes. Some of the bodies were burned.

    The recent killings have brought great sadness to Afghanistan, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called the killings 'unforgiveable.' NBC's Atia Abawi reports.

    The soldier had no history of behavioral problems but had been treated for traumatic brain injury after a previous deployment to Iraq, senior U.S. defense officials told NBC News.

    U.S. officials rushed to draw a line between the shooting over the weekend and ongoing efforts of a U.S. force of around 90,000, and have been bracing themselves for reprisals as Afghans weary of the decade-old Western military presence vent their anger.

    The Afghan Taliban threatened on Tuesday to behead U.S. troops in revenge for the massacre.

    Taliban vows 'revenge' after US soldier kills 16 civilans in Afghanistan

    "The Islamic Emirate once again warns the American animals that the mujahedeen will avenge them, and with the help of Allah will kill and behead your sadistic murderous soldiers," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an emailed statement, using the term with which the Islamist group describes itself.

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    Msnbc.com staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

  • Mourning, anger sweep Afghanistan after massacre

    The Taliban have called for revenge after a 38-year-old U.S. staff sergeant allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians, nine of them children, and then burned many of the bodies. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.

    By msnbc.com and news services

    Afghanistan's parliament on Monday condemned the massacre of 16 civilians by a U.S. soldier, with some legislators calling on President Hamid Karzai to step down.

    "The Wolesi Jirga (parliament) announces that once again Afghans have run out of patience with the arbitrary actions of foreign forces," the parliament said in a statement.

    The country's lower house of parliament closed in protest on Monday and some legislators called for President Hamid Karzai and his vice president to resign if they couldn't ensure security for ordinary Afghans, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.

    Taliban vow 'revenge' after US soldier kills 16 Afghan civilians

    Legislator Hamidzai Lalai rejected American and NATO claims that only one person was involved in the killings as they occured over two miles away from the military base, Pajhwok reported.  Besides, the attacker returned to this base after the incident, he said, according to the news service.

    Contrary to legislator's claims, however, BBC News reported that the villages were just 500 yards from the base.

    Reports of the attack vary. U.S. officials maintain only one soldier was involved, while villagers and other Afghans said it was a group of soldiers. But  the Obama administration vowed a rapid investigation and promised to hold whoever was behind the violence fully responsible.

    The recent killings have brought great sadness to Afghanistan, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called the killings 'unforgiveable.' NBC's Atia Abawi reports.

    The soldier suspected of being responsible has been detained but has yet to be identified. However, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed to NBC News that he is based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Tacoma, Wash.

    Report: Suspect is Iraq veteran with 2 kids

    A resident of Panjwai Abdul Samad told BBC News that the community already lived under virtual curfew before the attack that left 16 dead, including nine children.

    "We have been restricted by the government and Taliban not to move around during the night," he reportedly said.

    It had already been a restive night before the attack and aircraft were heard overhead at around midnight, Samad said. At some time between 01:00 a.m.  (4:30 p.m. ET) and 01:30 a.m. Samad said he heard the sound of helicopters and gunfire, according to the BBC. 

    A female eyewitness told the BBC she heard gunshots at 02:00 a.m.

    An American staff sergeant is in custody after allegedly killing 16 civilians, including nine children, in a shooting spree in Afghanistan. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

    By Monday, villagers had largely buried their dead within hours of the attack, in line with Islamic custom, The Los Angeles Times reported.

    Mourners also staged processions and ceremonies Monday, the chief of police in Panjwai district Sardar Mohammad Nazari told the newspaper.

    He and other community leaders asked for calm.

    "We asked the people to show restraint and then sent them back to their homes," he told the newspaper.

    Msnbc.com staff and Reuters contributed to this report.

    Retired General Barry McCaffrey, an NBC News military analyst, talks to TODAY's Matt Lauer about what could have possibly driven a U.S. soldier to killed 16 civilians, including nine children, in Afghanistan.

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