US probe into 'Taleban burnings'

The US military has launched a criminal investigation into alleged
misconduct by its troops in Afghanistan, including burning the bodies
of Taleban fighters.

The move came after an Australian TV station ran footage of what
appeared to be US soldiers burning the remains.

The footage shows other troops apparently taunting residents of a
nearby village, which they believed to be harbouring the Taleban.

The act of burning corpses is regarded as a sacrilege in Islam.

Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak was "deeply shocked" at 
the report and has also ordered an inquiry, a spokesman said.

'Lady boys'

The SBS television footage begins with a warning of disturbing scenes,
particularly for Muslim viewers. 

It opens with shots of an American PsyOps unit using loud pop music 
to try to flush out the Taleban - who banned music when they ruled 
the country.

The most shocking footage in the film shows the corpses of two
presumed Taleban fighters laid out facing Mecca and then being 
burned in what the reporter, John Martinkus, describes as a 
"deliberate desecration of Muslim beliefs". 

Later footage shows two US soldiers reading from a notebook messages
which they said had already been broadcast to villagers.

"Attention Taleban you are cowardly dogs," the message reads. 
"You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing West and burnt.

"You are too scared to retrieve their bodies. This just proves you 
are the lady boys we always believed you to be."

A Pentagon spokesman said that, if true, the claims would be 
"very troublesome".

The US military condemned the alleged acts, saying they would 
be "aggressively investigated".

"This alleged action is repugnant to our common values, is contrary 
to our commands-approved tactical operating procedures, and is not
sanctioned by this command," spokesman Maj Gen Jason Kamiya said. 

[...]

Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission called on US forces
to find those accountable and punish them.

"It is outrageous. The Americans are ignoring the basic principles of
the international humanitarian law," said its deputy head, Ahmad Fahim
Hakim. 


Full article at "BBC News"
http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4359128.stm

Cheers, Steve..

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