Karzai condemns photos of US troops with bodies
Source: Agencies |
April 20, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
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AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai yesterday condemned newly revealed photographs that show United States soldiers posing with the bloodied remains of three suicide bombers, calling the pictures "disgusting."
Karzai also warned in a statement that "similar incidents of an odious nature" in the past sparked angry reactions from Afghans, including violent protests that left dozens dead. "It is such a disgusting act to take photos with body parts and then share it with others," Karzai said.
The photos were published in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times. One shows members of the 82nd Airborne Division posing in 2010 with Afghan police holding the severed legs of a suicide bomber. The same platoon a few months later was sent to investigate the remains of three insurgents reported to have accidentally blown themselves up - and soldiers again posed and mugged for a photo with the remains, the newspaper said.
A photo from the second incident appears to show the hand of a dead insurgent resting on a US soldier's shoulder as the soldier smiles.
The White House called the two-year-old photos "reprehensible," joining US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top military officials in expressing regret for the latest in a string of embarrassing missteps by the US military in a war that's built on earning the trust and confidence of ordinary Afghans. In recent months, American troops have been caught up in controversies over burning Muslim holy books, urinating on Afghan corpses and an alleged massacre of 17 Afghan villagers.
After the burning of the Qurans in February, large-scale demonstrations erupted that killed more left more than 30 Afghan civilians and six Americans dead.
Many Afghan lawmakers yesterday played down possibility of the new photos sparking mass protests, saying there was little sympathy among the general population for suicide bombers.
Karzai also warned in a statement that "similar incidents of an odious nature" in the past sparked angry reactions from Afghans, including violent protests that left dozens dead. "It is such a disgusting act to take photos with body parts and then share it with others," Karzai said.
The photos were published in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times. One shows members of the 82nd Airborne Division posing in 2010 with Afghan police holding the severed legs of a suicide bomber. The same platoon a few months later was sent to investigate the remains of three insurgents reported to have accidentally blown themselves up - and soldiers again posed and mugged for a photo with the remains, the newspaper said.
A photo from the second incident appears to show the hand of a dead insurgent resting on a US soldier's shoulder as the soldier smiles.
The White House called the two-year-old photos "reprehensible," joining US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top military officials in expressing regret for the latest in a string of embarrassing missteps by the US military in a war that's built on earning the trust and confidence of ordinary Afghans. In recent months, American troops have been caught up in controversies over burning Muslim holy books, urinating on Afghan corpses and an alleged massacre of 17 Afghan villagers.
After the burning of the Qurans in February, large-scale demonstrations erupted that killed more left more than 30 Afghan civilians and six Americans dead.
Many Afghan lawmakers yesterday played down possibility of the new photos sparking mass protests, saying there was little sympathy among the general population for suicide bombers.
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