Two U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan will face court-martial for abusing detainees, a U.S. military statement said on Thursday.
The soldiers are accused of striking a pair of detainees and maltreating them in custody.
The statement the incidents took place in the central province of Uruzgan, where Taliban insurgents are active, but it didn’t say when.
A third soldier could face demotion, loss of pay, restrictions and extra duties if found guilty of knowing of any abuses.
“A date for the court martial has not yet been set,” it said adding that the hearing would be held at Bagram, the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan to the north of the capital.
Human rights groups and former detainees have sharply criticized the U.S. military for abusing prisoners in Afghanistan and at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Bodies allegedly burned
News of the court-martial comes days after the U.S. military said it had completed a probe into the alleged burning of two bodies of Taliban fighters by U.S. soldiers in Kandahar province in October. The findings have still to be made public.
Footage of the body burning incident was shown on Australian television, sparking anger among Afghans after a series of past abuses of detainees and alleged killing of prisoners by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The TV report quoted U.S. soldiers as saying they burned the bodies for reasons of hygiene. But the act could offend Muslims, whose faith prohibits cremation and demands respect for the dead.
According to the TV report, U.S. soldiers called out on a loud hailer to a nearby village where they believed Taliban fighters were hiding, taunting them to come out and fight and retrieve their dead.
There has been an increase in militant-related violence this year, and so far 1,100 people have been killed, including many militants but also over 50 U.S. soldiers.
It is one of the bloodiest years in an insurgency that has raged since U.S.-backed forces overthrew the Taliban government in late 2001 for refusing to surrender al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
