Army contractor is facing up to 15 years in prison Shooting death of a handcuffed Taliban fighter.

An Army contractor is facing up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., to manslaughter in the shooting death of a handcuffed Taliban fighter. Don M. Ayala, 46, of New Orleans, was on patrol in Afghanistan in November when an Afghan man tossed burning fuel on Ayala’s colleague, Paula Loyd, 36. Ayala helped arrest the attacker, but when he learned how badly Loyd had been hurt, he shot her attacker in the head. Loyd died two months later.Unknown attackers on Wednesday torched 10 trucks stranded in Pakistan by the bombing of a key supply line bridge into Afghanistan.Militants released 30 police and paramilitary officers they kidnapped late Tuesday after surrounding a police station in the Swat Valley, also in the volatile northwest.US army contractor pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to murder charges after he shot dead an Afghan who had set fire to a US civilian colleague, court documents showed.The guilty plea could bring a prison term of up to 15 years for the defendant, civilian Don Michael Ayala, who was employed by Strategic Analysis Inc., a subcontractor working for the US Department of Defense in Afghanistan.Ayala was on patrol with two of his colleagues and a team of soldiers "distributing candy and speaking with villagers" in a town in southern Kandahar province November 4 when an Afghan national tossed flammable liquid on a female colleague and set her on fire, court documents said.The blaze caused "second and third degree burns over approximately sixty percent or more of her body."After a brief chase, Ayala and others apprehended the suspect, Abdul Salam, handcuffed him and briefly interrogated him.When Ayala learned that his colleague had been badly burned, he "pushed his pistol against Salam's head and shot him, killing him instantly," according to the documents.In his plea, lawyers said Ayala "unlawfully and intentionally killed" the Afghan national in the "heat of passion and without malice."The female colleague died January 7 of her injuries, the court said.