US warns of reprisals after Afghan massacre in Kandahar

US troops in Afghanistan have been placed on alert following the killings of 16 Afghan civilians by a US soldier. US officials warned of reprisals after the solder went on a rampage in villages near a base in Kandahar. Nine children were among those killed. Earlier, US President Barack Obama phoned his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to express condolences over the massacre. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said a full investigation is under way. The soldier, believed to be a staff sergeant, is reported to have walked off his base at around 03:00 Sunday (22:30 GMT Saturday). In the villages of Alkozai and Najeeban, about 500m (yds) from the base, he reportedly attacked three homes. At one house in Najeeban, 11 people were found shot dead, and some of their bodies set alight. At least three of the child victims are reported to have been killed by a single shot to the head. The US military said reports indicated that the soldier returned to his base after the shootings and turned himself in. Pentagon spokesman Capt John Kirby said investigators reached the scene shortly after the attack and were interviewing the suspect. The soldier is being detained in Kandahar and the military is treating at least five people wounded in the attacks, officials said. The detained soldier has not been identified, although US officials quoted by AP news agency said he was from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, married with two children, who had served three tours in Iraq and was on his first deployment in Afghanistan. The killings come amid already high anti-US sentiment in Afghanistan following the burning of Korans at a Nato base in Kabul last month. US officials have repeatedly apologised for the incident but they failed to quell a series of protests and attacks that killed at least 30 people and six US troops. The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says the latest incident has damaged already fragile relations between Kabul and Washington. He says the Taliban is using the shooting as a propaganda victory, placing President Karzai in a difficult position. The killings could further fuel calls for a more rapid withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, US personnel in Afghanistan were warned of possible reprisal attacks. "The US Embassy in Kabul alerts US citizens in Afghanistan that as a result of a tragic shooting incident in Kandahar province involving a US service member, there is a risk of anti-American feelings and protests in coming days, especially in the eastern and southern provinces," the embassy said in an emergency statement on its website.