Washington, Dec 22(ANI): Eight American soldiers deployed in southern Afghanistan, have been charged for shooting a fellow soldier to death.
New York- based Danny Chen, 19, was found dead in a guard tower in Afghanistan's Kandahar province with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Though the initial reports pointed out that he had committed suicide, a military probe into the incident revealed that he was harassed and abused by his fellow soldiers.
Lieutenant Daniel J. Schwartz, Staff Sergeant Blaine G. Dugas, Staff Sergeant Andrew J. Van Bockel, Sergeant Adam M. Holcomb, Sergeant Jeffrey T. Hurst, Specialist Thomas P. Curtis, Specialist Ryan J. Offutt and Sergeant Travis F. Carden, 3rd Battalion, 21st
Infantry Regiment, First Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division were charged in connection with Chen's death.
Five soldiers have been charged with negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter.
The charges levelled against the soldiers include making a false official statement, dereliction of duty and assault consummated by battery.
Though the charged soldiers remain in Afghanistan they have been reshuffled to another base and are under increased supervision.
New York Representative Nydia Velazquez pointed out that Chen was dragged across a floor, hit with stones and forced to hold liquid in his mouth upside down.
"We realize that Danny will never return, but it gives us some hope," Fox News quoted victim's father Yen Tao Chen, as saying.
Chen was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.(ANI)
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