WASHINGTON: Eleven US soldiers will be court-martialled on charges of murdering Iraqis, including four accused of killing a raped girl and her family, the military said.

Two of the four soldiers accused in the rape and murder of the 14-year-old girl and her family could face the death penalty, the US army said in a statement on Wednesday.

Four other soldiers are charged with murdering three Iraqi prisoners they had seized in a raid and threatening to kill a fellow soldier if he reported what happened.

Three more are to stand trial for allegedly dragging an Iraqi civilian from his home and shooting him in cold blood, a military court ruled.

The incidents were among a series of high-profile allegations that US troops killed Iraqis amid rising violence and tension in the region.

One of the most serious was a claim that US marines went on a rampage at Haditha in western Iraq on November 19, killing 24 civilians after one of their comrades was killed by a roadside bomb. It is still under investigation by military officials.

The incident involving the girl provoked a different kind of outrage because she was allegedly stalked by the soldiers rather than killed during an ambiguous combat situation.

Five soldiers are accused of shooting the girl's father, mother and five-year-old sister before raping the teenager, killing her and setting her home in Mahmudiya south of Baghdad on fire to cover their tracks on March 12.

The accused ringleader, Steven Green, is being tried in civilian court because he was discharged from the military due to a "personality disorder" before the incident came to light. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and will be arraigned on November 8.

Prosecutors at a military hearing held in Iraq charged that the crime was a result of a detailed plan by the soldiers.

Prosecutor Captain Alex Picklands dismissed defence arguments that the killings could be attributed to the stressful conditions at the soldiers' checkpoint in Mahmudiyah.

"They gathered together over cards and booze and came up with a plan to rape and murder that little girl," he said.

Picklands said the soldiers chose the girl after seeing her on the street.

Meanwhile, the soldiers accused of slaying three detainees on May 9 said during a military hearing that they were ordered to "kill all military-aged males" but only shot the men after they broke the plastic cuffs binding their hands, assaulted their captors and attempted to flee.

Source: China Daily