Army apologizes for abuse photos

The US Army apologized on Monday "for the distress" that had been caused by pictures portraying alleged abuse committed by US troops in Afghanistan.

"We apologize for the distress these photos cause," said a statement released by the Army.

The German weekly Der Spiegel published photos earlier on Monday that it said showed two US soldiers from a rogue army unit posing with dead Afghans, and that US authorities had sought to keep secret.

The Army statement said the actions seen in the pictures were "repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the US Army."

It noted that the actions portrayed in these photographs were under investigation and subject to ongoing US court-martial proceedings.

The photos add to a growing body of evidence against soldiers accused of killing civilians, mutilating their bodies and collecting trophies.

Der Spiegel said one of the troops in the photos is Corporal Jeremy Morlock, who currently faces charges of premeditated murder in the deaths of three Afghans.

The other, Private Andrew Holmes, stands accused of participating in a plot to execute an Afghan man in January, the magazine said.

The plan, supposedly concocted by ringleader Sergeant Calvin Gibbs and Morlock, allegedly involved shooting a civilian before detonating a Russian-made grenade near him to make it appear he was an enemy combatant.

The well-respected magazine said it had researched the story of the so-called "Kill Team" for five months.

"Der Spiegel is publishing only three of the 4,000 pictures and videos, only those which are necessary for the story which needs to be told here," the magazine said.

AFP