US Army sergeant was court-martialed on Thursday of murdering unarmed civilians in villages in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. He was the leader of rogue platoon that called itself the kill squad and is accused of cutting fingers of their victims for trophies.

He was found guilty on all counts, and was sentencedto life in prison, but jury panel then decided that Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs, 26, would be eligible for parole in 8-12 years. He was also accused of using and distributing drugs in the base where he was stationed.

The verdict and sentence capped an 18-month investigation of the most shocking atrocities that U.S. military personnel have been convicted of committing during a decade of war in Afghanistan.  Pentagon officials have said the misconduct exposed by the case had damaged the image of the United States around the globe.

Photographs entered as evidence in the case showed Gibbs and other soldiers casually posing with bloodied Afghan corpses, drawing comparisons to the inflammatory Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq in 2004.   His lawyer, Phillip Stackhouse, asked the panel for leniency in its parole decision, saying Gibbs had ample time for reflection during his pre-trial confinement and is not the same person he was when he went to Afghanistan.

Gibbs was found guilty on three counts of premeditated murder in the slayings of Afghan villagers last year that were disguised as legitimate combat engagements. Prosecutors said he acted as the chief instigator behind those killings and other assaults by members of his self-described kill team.

Besides charges of murder, conspiracy and other offenses, he was found guilty of beating a soldier who reported hashish use to superiors and of military code violations for cutting fingers off bodies as war trophies.

US Army Soldier convicted for Afghan murders

Report by Adhir Roy Chowdury