US soldier's rampage highlights Afghan war-weariness

AFGHANISTAN: The fallout from the shooting of 16 Afghan villagers by a renegade US soldier has highlighted the mistrust and exhaustion on both sides in a decade-long war increasingly seen as a lost cause.

In Afghanistan there have been angry words from President Hamid Karzai but as yet no widespread outpouring of rage on the streets. "Many Afghans think that American soldiers kill civilians all the time," said Kate Clark of the Afghanistan Analysts' Network.

"I've found it difficult to find Afghans who believe it was one American acting on his own, so this is maybe seen as just a more egregious example of their regular practice."

AFP