Two killed, 14 others wounded in 101st Airborne camp

Sgt. Hasan Akbar is the only person charged in the grenade attack that killed two U.S. officers and wounded 14 other soldiers March 23. Story Tools

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier has been charged with two counts of murder in connection with a grenade attack on fellow service members in Kuwait last month that killed two, officials at Fort Campbell said Friday.

Hasan Akbar, 32, a combat engineer with the 326th Engineer Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division, was charged March 25 with two counts of premeditated murder, 17 counts of attempted murder, one count of aggravated arson of an inhabited dwelling and one count of misbehavior as a sentinel, according to a statement from Fort Campbell, where the 101st Airborne is based.

The attack occurred at Camp Pennsylvania -- the Kuwaiti headquarters of the division's 1st Brigade -- on March 23, four days after the start of the war in Iraq.

Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, 27, was killed in the attack. Air National Guard Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, died a few days later of wounds he received during the attack. Fourteen other soldiers were wounded.

The charges against Akbar have been forwarded to the commander of the 326th Engineer Battalion, who exercises court-martial convening authority over him, officials said.

The commander has the authority to direct a pretrial investigation under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to the statement, but there is no word if that decision has been made.

The Fort Campbell statement said, "given present combat operations, the time necessary to complete the investigation of the March 23 incident and process the charges preferred against Sgt. Akbar is uncertain."

The Army has not decided where any proceedings would take place.