Two British soldiers have been arrested for "inappropriate behaviour" in Afghanistan, the British Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday after a newspaper report of child abuse. Quoting defence sources, Britain's Sun newspaper reported that the pair had abused two Afghan children aged "about ten", and made recordings of their behaviour.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in a statement that the government in Kabul was "deeply disturbed" by reports of abuse, and said their alleged behaviour was "immoral". The alleged incident comes just a week after a video emerged showing US Marines urinating on corpses, believed to be dead Taliban fighters, that caused outrage across Afghanistan.
"The government of Afghanistan is immensely disgusted by the rise in recent incidents of immoral nature among foreign soldiers that clearly undermine public confidence and the Afghan people's co-operation with foreign troops," Karzai's office said.