Self-described "Kill Team" Ringleader Linked to Iraqi Deaths

New details have emerged regarding Sgt Gibbs' "exploits" in Iraq that may lead to new murder charges against the US soldier who is currently accused of the sport murder of several Afghani civilians.

Sgt Calvin Gibbs is accused, along with four other soldiers, of opening fire on Afghan civilians in unprovoked assaults between January and May in Kandahar province. Seven others are accused of dismembering bodies and removing bones.

The career of the alleged ringleader of a self-described "kill team" is now being scrutinised after he allegedly boasted to fellow soldiers of his exploits in Iraq, where he served two terms.

During interrogation, Sgt Gibbs revealed a tattoo on his left calf of a crossed pair of pistols framed by six skulls, which he told investigators was his way of keeping count of his victims, according to a report in the Washington Post, which cited army documents seen by the newspaper.

Sgt Gibbs allegedly told investigators that three of the skulls, coloured red, represented kills in Iraq, while the other three in blue were from Afghanistan.

Special agents from the US army's criminal investigations command are now re-examining an incident in 2004, when Sgt Gibbs and other soldiers allegedly fired on an Iraqi family in a car, killing two adults and a child.

The US army is understood to be searching for dozens of digital photos allegedly taken by soldiers showing their colleagues posing with Afghan civilian corpses. If released in public, they could create a worldwide furore similar to that sparked by the images of American guards mistreating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, and would undermine the US effort to win over the Afghan public.

The war crimes investigation is the most serious the US army has faced in Afghanistan during its nine-year presence.

By: Shelldrake