A US soldier is being held in connection with the fatal shooting on Oct. 17 of a Taliban detainee, who was found dead in a holding cell in Kandahar province. The US Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) and Afghan officials have launched separate investigations into the death. Officials stated that detainee, Mullah Muhibullah, was a senior leader of the Taliban network in Arghandab district of Kandahar province. Arghandab is currently the focus of a major US-led military offensive to dislodge the Taliban from its strategic stronghold in Kandahar province. Mullah Muhibullah was detained during a Taliban operation the day before he was killed.

Earlier this week, the US Army announced that a US soldier accused of killing three Afghan civilians in an unprovoked rogue assault earlier this year will face a court-martial for premeditated murder. Spc. Jeremy Morlock of Joint Base Lewis McChord is one of five soldiers accused of murdering the civilians in separate incidents between January and May in Kandahar province. The Army announced in May that its Criminal Investigation Command was opening an investigation into the civilian deaths in Kandahar. The charges are the latest in a number of incidents involving US soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

From Jurist, Oct. 20. Used with permission.

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