Three US soldiers returning back from Iraq have been charged in connection with the drowning of an Iraqi detainee in January, the military said on July 2.

The drowning occurred in the Iraqi city of Samarra, near Baghdad, when the soldiers on patrol at that time forced the Iraqi to jump off a bridge. A fourth soldier has also been charged for forcing a second Iraqi to jump off the bridge.

Both the two Iraqis were civilians that had been detained for a curfew violation.

Two of the soldiers, First Lieutenant Jack Saville and Sergeant First Class Tracy Perkins, were charged on June 7 with manslaughter, assault, conspiracy, false statements and obstruction of justice.

Two others were charged on June 28.

The four soldiers, who were assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, part of the 4th Infantry, returned to Fort Carson, Colorado, where the bridge is based, by April after about a year in Iraq.

At least 19 prisoner deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan have been investigated as homicides by the military.

Source: Xinhua