US Soldiers Pose With Afghan Corpses: LA Times

 Local Editor

A new series of scandalous photos showing American troops smile and joke while they pose with the dead bodies of Afghans has emerged again through media.
The Los Angeles Times published a photo, one of 18 photos it had obtained from a US soldier from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division on condition of anonymity.
The photo depicted a soldier who leaned over the bearded corpse while clutching the man's hand. Someone placed an unofficial platoon patch reading "Zombie Hunter" next to other remains and took a picture.

The photos were taken on different occasions in the southern Zabul Province, according to the soldier.
The US Army said it has launched a "criminal investigation." The US Embassy in Kabul condemned the photos in a statement.

A series of similar scandals by American troops have strained relations between the United States and Afghanistan.
In March 2011, the German magazine Der Spiegel published three pictures that showed American soldiers posing with the corpse of a young Afghan boy as if it were a hunting trophy. Some soldiers apparently kept body parts of their victims, including a skull, as souvenirs.

In January 2012, a video showed four US Marines urinating on Afghan corpses. In the half-minute video posted online, the four soldiers in combat gear and carrying weapons are seen urinate as they stand over the corpses and urinate. They sigh and laugh. One of the marines says "Have a great day, buddy" while another comments "Golden, like a shower."

In February 2012, the inadvertent burning of copies of the Quran at a US base triggered riots that left 30 dead and led to the deaths of six Americans. In March, a US Army sergeant went on a nighttime shooting rampage in two Afghan villages, killing 17.

The US military officials asked The Times not to publish any of the pictures.
The soldier who provided the photos, and two other former members of the battalion, said in separate interviews that they and others had complained of the situation earlier.

Source: LA Times