Sunday, November 27 2005 11:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kandhar: Two US soldiers have been reprimanded for burning the remains of Taliban fighters and two for using the incident to try to incite other fighters into battle, the US military said today (Nov 27, 2005).

The incidents, which surfaced on Australian television in mid-October, angered many in Afghanistan. The burning of bodies violates the tenets of Islam and the US image here is already tarnished by abuse of detainees.

A series of investigations found the soldiers had set alight the decomposing bodies for hygiene purposes, Major General Jason Kamiya, second in command of the US-led coalition here, told reporters.

The Taliban had been killed after ambushing US and Afghan troops in the Gumbad Valley in volatile southern Afghanistan at the end of September.

The US soldiers had not intended to desecrate the bodies and did not know their action violated Islam, Kamiya said. Islam requires the bodies of Muslims to be washed, prayed over, wrapped in white cloth and buried.

"My investigation reveals that US forces did not violate the law of war and for hygiene purposes only disposed of enemy remains through burning," Kamiya said.

"The weather was hot, about 33 degrees Celsius (91 Fahrenheit), the remains were heavily damaged by gunfire and they had already begun to rapidly decompose.

"This posed an increasing health threat to our soldiers as they expected to remain on the hill for the next two to three days if necessary," he said.

Since the incident the US military had carried out cultural awareness training and was trying to "more fully understand" Afghan customs, he said.