Afghan Massacre Families Receive 'Payout'

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales (left) is accused of killing 17 people on a shooting rampage on March 11.

An Afghan official has told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that families who lost relatives in a massacre in Kandahar by a U.S. soldier have been paid compensation.

“The families of the dead received $50000 each, while the injured were paid $11000,” said Agha Lalai.

A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul declined to confirm that any payment had been made.

U.S. staff sergeant Robert Bales was charged on March 23 with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

The victims were killed in a deadly night-time shooting rampage in Panjwai district on 11 March.

With reporting by AFP and the BBC