美國調查“令人不安”的伊拉克境內照片

The U.S. Defense Department says photos that purportedly show Marines burning bodies of what appear to be dead Iraqi insurgents are "disturbing."

A Pentagon spokesman, Rear Admiral John Kirby, said Thursday that officials must let a Marine-led probe into the photos take its course before determining their authenticity.

The U.S. Marine Corps launched its investigation on Wednesday, several days after the photos were turned over to the Pentagon by the entertainment website .

TMZ, which posted eight of the photos, says it was told they were taken in the western Iraqi city of Fallujah, the scene of fierce fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents 10 years ago.

In the photos, a person in what looks like a Marine uniform appears to be pouring a flammable liquid on dead insurgents. Other photos show the bodies on fire.

U.S. defense officials say the images do not appear to constitute war crimes. But they say the Marines possibly violated military rules that prohibit the mishandling of remains and inappropriate photos on the battlefield.美國國防部說，據稱展示美國海軍陸戰隊員焚燒看來是伊拉克叛亂分子屍體的照片“令人不安”。

五角大樓發言人柯比星期四說，有關官員必須讓海軍陸戰隊牽頭對這些照片進行調查，然後才能確定照片的真實性。

美國海軍陸戰隊星期三展開調查。幾天前，娛樂網站將這些照片送交五角大樓。

TMZ網站登出了其中八張照片，並聲稱該網站被告知，這些照片是在伊拉克西部城市費盧傑拍攝的。10年前，美國軍隊曾與叛亂分子在費盧傑激戰。

在照片中，一名看來身穿美國海軍陸戰隊軍裝的人向叛亂分子屍體上澆易燃的液體。其他照片顯示屍體在燃燒。

美國國防部官員說，這些畫面看來並不構成戰爭罪行。但他們表示，海軍陸戰隊員們可能違反了禁止粗暴對待屍體以及在戰場進行不當拍照的軍紀。