Afghanistan: British Military to Investigate Photo of Soldier Cavorting Next to Dead Insurgent

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/10/world/asia/afghanistan-british-military-to-investigate-photo-of-soldier-cavorting-next-to-dead-insurgent.html

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Britain’s Defense Ministry said Friday that it had begun an investigation after graphic photos surfaced appearing to show at least one British service member posing next to the corpse of a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan in 2012. In one of the photos, a member of the military is kneeling next to a body and giving a thumbs-up sign, recalling some previous images of Western personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq that caused widespread offense in those countries. “This type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” said a statement from the Royal Air Force. A defense official confirmed news media reports in Britain that the incident took place after an attack by insurgents on Camp Bastion, the main British military base in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. The photographs surfaced first on a website called Live Leak and were reproduced on many British newsweb sites with people’s faces concealed.