A U.S. Army sergeant was formally charged Friday with 17 murders in the massacre of civilians in southern Afghanistan, U.S. forces said in a statement. Staff Sergeant Robert Bales was also accused of six counts of assault and attempted murder in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province earlier this month. The statement said that under the U.S. military's code of justice, “the maximum possible punishment for a premeditated murder conviction is a dishonorable discharge from the Armed Forces, reduction to the lowest enlisted grade, total forfeiture of pay and allowances, and death.” It also said that the minimum sentence is life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.
