© Jon StephensonA young Afghan villager named Sadiqullah was wounded in his right ear when he was shot allegedly by U.S. Staff Sgt. Robert Bales at the home of his father, Haji Mohammad Naim
It was early in the morning, perhaps 2 a.m., when gunfire awoke 14-year-old Rafiullah.
He looked outside the house he'd been sleeping in with his grandmother, an aunt, two cousins and his sister, and he saw a man with a weapon walk to a shed that housed the family cow and open fire, shooting the animal dead.
"I told the women inside our room: 'Let's run! Let's get out of here,' " recalled Rafiullah, who like many Afghans goes by only one name.
In the next compound, a short distance from the house where Rafiullah had been sleeping, Haji Mohammad Naim awoke to the sound of dogs barking wildly in the street.
"Then there was shooting, and the dogs stopped barking," said Naim, who's in his 50s.Shortly afterward, there was pandemonium at Naim's front door as Rafiullah and a handful of terrified women and children poured into his yard, seeking shelter. Minutes later, another woman and a young girl emerged from the darkness.
"She was screaming and crying," Naim said of the woman. "She said, 'My husband has been martyred,' " meaning that he'd been killed.
Suddenly a silhouette appeared, moving rapidly behind a bright light. Naim thought that U.S. forces were raiding his village, and he expected a squad of soldiers to arrive. Instead, he saw just one man.
"He got closer, and then he started shooting at me," Naim said.
Comment: It is indeed curious that these witnesses are claiming that there was only one shooter. Another child witness who was interviewed in March had a different version of the story. See here:
Child witnesses to Afghan massacre say Robert Bales was not alone
For more information, also read the Sott Focus: US Soldiers Look Deep Inside Their Souls - Find Vacuum - Decide To Kill Afghan Villagers by Joe Quinn.