Robert Bales is named as the suspect in the Afghanistan massacres

The US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in a massacre that has undermined relations with Kabul has been named as Staff Sgt Robert Bales.

Senior US officials told the BBC the name of the suspect as he was heading back to the US to face charges.

He is being flown to Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas, from Kuwait.

His lawyer, John Henry Browne, said on Thursday that the suspect was a 38-year-old man who had been injured twice while serving in Iraq.

He also said the accused had witnessed his friend's leg blown off the day before the killings.

That incident has not been confirmed by the US Army.

The Taliban called off peace talks in the wake of Sunday's deadly rampage - in which men, women and children were shot and killed at close range.

The US has stressed it remained committed to Afghan reconciliation.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has also reacted angrily to the killings. He told the US it must pull back its troops from village areas and allow Afghan security forces to take the lead in an effort to reduce civilian deaths.

On Friday he said the US was not fully co-operating with a probe into the killings.

Robert Bales is named as the suspect in the Afghanistan massacres

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