Staff Sgt Robert Bales, 40, opened fire on men, children and women during the attack in Kandahar on 11 March 2012.

 

The father of two pleaded guilty in June to avoid the death penalty.

 

He apologised during his sentencing hearing at a Washington state military base on Thursday, calling the attack an "act of cowardice¹".

 

Sgt Bales had been making a case for why he should one day be eligible² for parole, which would have meant he could have been released in 20 years. 

 

 

But on Friday the military jury of six ruled against him at Joint³ Base Lewis-McChord, south of Seattle.

 

Sgt Bales showed no emotion as the sentence was announced. His mother bowed her head, rocked in her seat and wept.

 

An interpreter gave a thumbs-up to a row of Afghan villagers who were flown out by the US Army to give evidence at the trial.

 

But afterwards they were far from happy with the outcome. 

 

"We wanted this murderer to be executed," Haji Mohammad Naeem, who was shot and injured in the attack, said through an interpreter. 

 

"We came all the way to the US to get justice. We didn't get that."

 

He added: "I saw his [Sgt Bales'] mother trying to cry, but at least she can visit him. What about us? Our family members are actually six feet under."

 

Sgt Bales was serving his fourth combat deployment⁴ when he attacked two villages in the middle of the night, spraying bullets into mostly women and children.

 

His lawyers argued that post-traumatic stress disorder⁵ and a brain injury were factors in the killings⁶.

 

Nine Afghan villagers testified at the court martial⁷.

 

Among them was Haji Mohammad Wazir, who lost 11 family members, including his mother, wife and six children.

 

The jury returned the sentence just hours after the prosecution⁸ and defence made closing arguments.

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