Rogue soldier Robert Bales 'will be charged next week' Bales is suspected of leaving a US base in Panjwai district of Kandahar province, entering homes and gunning down nine children, four men and three women before dawn on March 11. He is currently being held at a US military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Afghan investigators and members of parliament from the area have said that they believe more than one US soldier - perhaps as many as 20 - conducted the killings in southern Afghanistan. But a legal expert told The Associated Press that while the case was still being investigated, there was no indication that more than one person was involved in the shooting spree. A US official familiar with the case said that was "completely false." Villagers from the area also have alleged that women were sexually assaulted during the rampage. The US official said there was no evidence at this time that any of the women were raped. The official said the US military investigators were looking into those allegations along with many others. Bales, 38, was identified on Friday night. He had served three combat tours in Iraq, and was on his first deployment to Afghanistan at the time of the killings. According to a blog written by his wife Kari, he lost out on a promotion, and his family hoped to go to Germany, Italy or Hawaii for an "adventure." They hoped to move by last summer; instead the Army redeployed his unit - the 3rd Stryker Brigade, named after armored Stryker vehicles - to Afghanistan. He was also reportedly struggling to pay mortgage bills, while court records show that he assaulted a girlfriend in 2002 and was involved in a hit-and-run accident. Eklil Hakimi, Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States, said on Sunday that the "bigger picture" of the US-Afghan relationship should not be overshadowed by the tragedy.