The Sun newspaper reported that a sergeant and a private from the Mercian Battle Group have been arrested over claims that they abused an Afghan boy and a girl, both aged about 10, and filmed the incidents.
"We are aware that an allegation has been made concerning alleged inappropriate behaviour by two servicemen in Afghanistan," a Ministry of Defence spokesman said in a statement.
"The Royal Military Police (Special Investigations Branch) has launched an investigation into this. We take any such allegation extremely seriously.
"It would be inappropriate to comment further while an investigation is ongoing."
The allegation comes less than a week after a video emerged showing US Marines urinating on the corpses of militants in Afghanistan.
Britain has some 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, mainly based in Helmand where they are battling a Taliban insurgency. Britain intends to pull out all its combat troops by 2015.
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@John Drake: eeeerrr ''this practice is commonplace''???? i suppose your in a position to back this up
What do they mean by 'abused'? They must be more precise whether they mean 'raped' or 'molested'.
As long as the military dehumanizes the "Enemy," then we will have crimes like this committed against the poor and vulnerable. This practice is commonplace, but has been censored by the media. It is remarkable that when a window opens up to the public and atrocities are revealed, the reaction is to deny the event as a few bad apples, when in fact, history has shown us that mans' inhumanity to man is only exceeded by our inhumanity to animals. Trophy taking in times of war has precedence and is something that is probably encouraged by the high command. It allows the soldier to relive his experience and justifies the sacrifice the troops are making for securing the oil and natural resources of the foreign country.
On behalf of ISAF and CENTCOM, we would like to like to inform readers that we are aware of the investigation being carried out by the British military police, who are looking into the alleged inappropriate conduct of British servicemen in Afghanistan. As the ISAF spokesperson, Brigadier General Jacobson, has made clear, we expect that, irrespective of their nationality, all troops serving in Afghanistan should abide by and uphold the highest standards of military service. After the result of the investigation is released, and if they were found guilty, only then can appropriate action be taken by the British servicemen’s home nation. Having said this, we would like to stress the fact that the actions of a few individuals do not reflect the character, actions or morals of the entire ISAF and NATO forces who are sacrificing their lives in order to bring stability and peace to the region and consequently to secure a terror-free future for all. The concepts of freedom and democracy are not confined to the West only.
MAJ David Nevers, DET – U.S. Central Command