WASHINGTON, March 21 (UPI) -- A U.S. soldier held in the slaying of 16 Afghan civilians did not initially say women and children were among the dead, officials said.
Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales allegedly told officials he killed several older Afghan men outside a U.S. combat outpost in southern Afghanistan on March 11, the Los Angeles times reported Tuesday.
"He indicated to his buddies that he had taken out some military-aged males," a senior official said.
"Military-aged" is a term used by soldiers to indicate insurgents, the newspaper said.
But it soon came out that Bales, 38, had gone into two villages before dawn and killed a total of 16 civilians --including women and children -- in their homes, the officials said.
Currently, Bales is being held in an Army prison in Kansas, but has not yet been charged.
Bales' lawyer has said his client has no recollection of the key periods of the night the killings took place.
Bales "has no memory of ... he has an early memory of that evening and he has a later memory of that, but he doesn't have memory of the evening in between," said defense attorney John Henry Browne.
Browne said he will not seek an insanity defense, but will argue that his client suffered from "diminished capacity," like an emotional breakdown.
Officials said Bales will be charged later this week after authorities make the charges as complete as possible to avoid any criticism of not conducting a thorough investigation.
Officials wished to remain anonymous, citing the ongoing investigation.
