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NEW YORK - A survey of public records by the New York Times found at least 121 US veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing or were charged with one after returning home from duty.
The Times said the numbers indicated a nearly 90 per cent increase in homicides involving active-duty military personnel and new veterans for the period since 2001.
Saying its research was likely to have uncovered only the minimum number of such cases, the Times found three-quarters of the veterans charged were still in the military at the time of the killings, more than half of which involved guns.
Twenty-five of the offenders faced murder, manslaughter or homicide charges for fatal car crashes resulting from drunken, reckless or suicidal driving.
The Times said about one-third of the victims were spouses, girlfriends, children or other relatives, while 25 per cent were fellow service members.
- REUTERS
