Two US marines are facing criminal charges for urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, actions caught on a video that was widely circulated on the internet, the marine corps said yesterday.
The criminal charges are the first faced by anyone over the incident. The video triggered widespread anger in Afghanistan early this year, with Afghan president Hamid Karzai calling the marines’ actions “inhuman”. Staff sergeants Joseph W Chamblin and Edward W Deptola were also charged with “posing for unofficial photographs with human casualties”, the marine corps said.
The marine corps said in August that three marines pleaded guilty to charges over the video. But punishment fell short of criminal prosecution. – (Reuters)
