CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — A former U.S. Marine counterintelligence sergeant testified Tuesday that special operations Marines fired into civilian traffic in Afghanistan in March, even though he saw no evidence that their convoy was fired upon.
Nathanial Travers, a former staff sergeant, said Marines in his convoy were rushing back to their base after a car-bomb attack when Humvee gunners fired into civilian vehicles on a highway.
Up to 19 Afghans died in the March 4 incident, which is being reviewed by a court of inquiry, the first such hearing by the Marines in a half-century.
“There were a lot of people who died that day who really didn’t need to,” Travers said. “They were just driving in their cars.”
The board of inquiry is an administrative fact-finding body, not a criminal court. It is looking into discipline in controlling gunfire, rules of engagement and the “command climate” of the special- ops unit. No Marines have been charged in the case.
