Karzai blasts US troops for gruesome Afghan deaths

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KABUL, Mar 30 (AP): Afghanistan's president says U.S. soldiers charged with murder in the deaths last year of three unarmed Afghans had killed them for entertainment, after taking drugs. Hamid Karzai condemned the actions of five soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade. The troops have been charged in the United States with murder and conspiracy in the slaying of three men in southern Afghanistan. The remarks on Wednesday were Karzai's first public comments on the issue that came to light after a series of graphic photos showing the soldiers from an Olympia, Washington-based platoon, posing next to the dead Afghan bodies. Some of the photos have appeared in Rolling Stone magazine and the German news magazine Der Spiegel. Meanwhile: NATO says insurgents in eastern Afghanistan have killed three coalition troops. The international coalition says the deaths occurred on Wednesday. No other details about the nationality of the troops were immediately released, pending notification of their next of kin.