Washington: The US military gave punishments to the troops involved in the two incidents of urinating on corpses and burning copies of the Quran in Afghanistan early this year.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai branded the Marine’s actions in the video as “inhuman,” and he initially called for a public trial for the soldiers over the Quran incident.
However, the administrative punishments given to the troops fell short of criminal prosecution and it was unclear whether they would satisfy Afghan demands for justice.
The US military did not give details of the precise punishments but Army and Marine Corps spokesmen said they fell into a category that includes administrative sanctions, like a reduction in rank or forfeiture of pay.
The Marine Corps announced three Marines had pleaded guilty to charges over the video, which was widely seen on the Internet in January and showed Marines urinating on the corpses of what the Marine Corps said were dead Taliban fighters. One can be heard saying, “Have a nice day, buddy.”
The incident in February touched off several days of rioting and attacks on US troops after local workers found charred copies of the Quran among the trash at the incinerator at the Bagram base north of Kabul.
At least 30 people died in the violence that spread across the country after the incident. Shortly after, two American officers were shot dead in a secure area of the Afghan interior ministry, a crime that remains unsolved.
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