WASHINGTON - The US military announced it was disciplining US troops involved in two incidents that provoked outrage in Afghanistan early this year, one over a video depicting Marines urinating on corpses and another over burning copies of the holy Quran, US officials said.
The military said they would receive administrative discipline, which could include actions such as a reprimand, reduction in rank or forfeiture of pay. Neither incident so far has resulted in criminal charges, something that may fail to satisfy Afghan demands for justice.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai branded the Marine's actions in the video as "inhuman" and he initially called a public trial for the soldiers over the incident.
The Marine Corps announced three Marines had pleaded guilty to charges over the video, including one for "urinating on the body of a deceased Taliban soldier." Another wrongfully posed for a photo with human casualties and the third lied about the incident to investigators. Their identities were not disclosed.
The video, which became public in January after the images were posted on the Internet, actually took place on or around July 27, 2011 during a counter-insurgency operation in Afghanistan's Helmand province, the Marines said, describing findings of the investigation.
One of the four Marines shown in the video can be heard saying, "Have a nice day, buddy," while another makes a lewd joke, as the urinated on three corpses.
Disciplinary actions against other Marines involved in the incident will be announced at a later date, the Marine Corps said in a statement.
The Army was also expected to give details shortly about six soldiers who are receiving administrative punishments over an incident in which copies of the holy Quran and other religious material were removed from a prison library and sent to an incinerator to be destroyed, a United States official said on condition of anonymity.
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.
US officials at the time said some of the religious material had been removed from the prison library at Bagram because of concern that it was extremist in nature and was being used to pass messages among prisoners.
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.
An investigation into the Quran burning concluded in June with recommendations that the troops involved receive administrative punishment, a US official said at the time. An administrative punishment might include a written reprimand or docked pay, but not criminal charges.