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US soldiers face probe into Afghan civilian deaths :
The U.S. military is investigating allegations that a small group of American soldiers deliberately killed three Afghan civilians in a series of shootings earlier this year, Western officials familiar with the case said Friday.
Military officials have detained one soldier with the Army's 5th Stryker Brigade based in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, said the officials, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the case.
If the allegations prove to be true, they could undermine the U.S. military's already shaky credibility in southern Afghanistan as it gears up to target the Taliban's spiritual capital in Kandahar.
The military is funneling soldiers to Kandahar as part of a campaign to weaken the Taliban's hold on crucial parts of the province, but the case could make it harder to convince skeptical Afghans to back the campaign.
The allegations center on as many as nine soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Battalion, at Forward Operating Base Ramrod, a remote outpost west of Kandahar city. The brigade is part of the 2nd Infantry Division, based at Fort Lewis, Wash.