Horrific photos show US army 'murders' in Afghanistan

Corporal Jeremy Morlock and Private Andrew Holmes. Photos / AFP - US Army

The United States military is facing a severe backlash after the publication of horrific images documenting "trophy" killings committed by US soldiers in Afghanistan.

The images appeared in the most recent edition of the German news weekly Der Spiegel.

Senior officials at Nato's International Security Force in Kabul have compared the pictures to the images of US soldiers abusing prisoners in Abu Ghraib in Iraq which sparked waves of anti-US protests around the world.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon have already contacted their Afghan counterparts in Kabul to discuss the situation.

The case threatens to strain already fragile US-Afghan relations at a time when the two countries are negotiating over the establishment of permanent US military bases in Afghanistan.

The US Army is currently preparing a court martial to try a total of 12 suspects in connection with the killings.

The army apologised for the suffering the photos have caused. The actions depicted in the photos, a statement said, are "repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States."

The suspected perpetrators are part of a group of US soldiers accused of several killings.

They allegedly staged a number of scenarios in which they were "under attack" from young civilians - giving them an excuse to shoot them dead.

Then they took the photographs. Der Spiegel says there are "thousands" of pictures.

Details of the atrocities first came to light in messages posted in a Facebook chat between one of the soldiers in the unit and his parent back in the US.

The most serious accusations involve five soldiers - Calvin Gibbs, Adam Winfield, Jeremy Morlock, Andrew Holmes and Michael Wagnon II - who are said to have slain three Afghans earlier this year, the Huffington Post reported.

Their court martials are expected to start soon.

- AGENCIES