A US soldier accused of being part of a "death squad" which randomly killed Afghan civilians for sport has appeared in court as videotape emerged of him blaming his superior for the atrocities.

The men are said to have shot their victims and then tried to cover their tracks by making it look like an attack was imminent.

Corporal Jeremy Morlock, 22, is among five members of the 5th Stryker Brigade who are charged with premeditated murder and conspiracy.

If found guilty of all the charges against him, he could face the death penalty.

Prosecutors also allege that members of the platoon mutilated Afghan corpses and even collected fingers and other body parts, and that some posed for photos with bodies.

As the case began at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington, a video of Morlock being interviewed by investigators was shown on US television.

In it he blamed his squad leader, Sergeant Calvin Gibbs, for the killings.

The other three suspected of involvement in the "death squad' are Specialist Adam Winfield, Specialist Michael Wagnon II and Private Andrew Holmes.

Morlock claimed Gibbs - the highest ranking soldier accused - planned "scenarios" during which they could kill civilians.

For example, Morlock said, if they came across someone in a village that had previously been flagged as having Taliban influence, they could throw a grenade at the civilian and claim they had been responding to a threat.

Morlock said: "He (Gibbs) just really doesn’t have any problems with ....killing these people. And so we identify a guy, Gibbs makes a comment, like, you know, you guys wanna wax this guy or what?

"He pulled out one of his grenades, an American grenade, you know, popped it, throws it, tells me where to go to whack this guy, kill this guy, kill this guy."

He claimed Gibbs carried a Russian grenade to leave next to the body to make it look like the soldiers were under attack.

He added: "Gibbs had pure hatred for all Afghanis and constantly referred to them as savages.

"Sometime after Christmas 2009, Gibbs gave me a (fragmentation) grenade and told me that if the situation presented itself that we should go ahead and run with the grenade scenario that he had briefed to us."

A few weeks later, in January, the first of the killings was carried out, followed by one in February and one in early May. All were in Kandahar province.

In two of the slayings, grenades were thrown at the victims and they were shot, it is claimed. The third victim also was shot.

Morlock's lawyers are trying to suppress the statements, saying they were made when he was under the influence of prescription drugs, including muscle relaxants, sleeping pills and anti-nausea medicine for concussions.

At the time of his questioning in May, Morlock was being evacuated from Afghanistan for apparent traumatic brain injury.

"This lad was all juiced up and it was by Army doctors," said attorney Geoffrey Nathan.

But Army Special Agent Anderson D Wagner testified that Morlock was articulate during the interviews and that his account was corroborated by others in the unit.

The hearing will determine whether the case proceeds to a court martial. More hearings are expected in the new few weeks for the other defendants.

Meanwhile, three Australian soldiers will face charges including manslaughter over a raid in Afghanistan that left five children dead, Australia's chief military prosecutor have said.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World- ... 6638?f=rss

I'd suggest they start asking questions above the sergeant accused there, just to spook anyone else if nothing else...