Afghan president Hamid Karzai has led a chorus of condemnation of US marines filmed urinating on the bodies of dead Afghans as "inhumane" and called for them to be severely punished.
Karzai was joined by the leaders of foreign coalition forces in Kabul and Senator John McCain, a navy veteran, in denouncing the latest in a series of abuses by American soldiers, who have yet to be identified, which is likely to further inflame hostility to Nato troops in Afghanistan and reinforce the perception that there is an institutional problem in the US military.
US defence secretary Leon Panetta also condemned the video on Thursday, promising to punish those involved.
"I have seen the footage, and I find the behaviour depicted in it utterly deplorable," Panetta said in a statement, saying he had ordered the Marine Corps and the commander of US and Nato troops in Afghanistan to investigate the incident. "Those found to have engaged in such conduct will be held accountable to the fullest extent."
The Pentaton said it had no information so far that casts doubt on the authenticity of the video. "We don't have any indication that it's not authentic," spokesman Captain John Kirby said. "It certainly appears to us to be what it appears to be to you guys... troops urinating on corpses. But there's an investigation process ongoing. We need to let that work its way through to determine all the facts of the case."
A leading negotiator in Karzai's peace council, Arsala Rahmani, said that the film of the four marines laughing and making snide comments as they urinate on the bloodied corpses will have a "very, very bad impact on peace efforts".
"Looking at such action, the Taliban can easily recruit young people and tell them that their country has been attacked by Christians and Jews and they must defend it," he said.
But the Taliban, while criticising the actions of the marines as "shameful", said the latest revelations of abuse by US forces will not block attempts to get talks started to bring an end to the Afghan conflict.
In the graphic video, a soldier films four other marines as they take out their penises and urinate on three bloodied corpses. They sigh with relief, laugh and make comments including "have a great day, buddy" and "golden, like a shower".
The soldiers in the video appear to be members of Scout Sniper Team 4, a US marines unit that served in Afghanistan as recently as last year.
It is not clear who the dead Afghans are. They are possibly Taliban fighters, but their corpses are not shown with weapons.
Karzai said in a statement that he was "deeply disturbed by a video that shows American soldiers desecrating dead bodies of three Afghans".
"This act by American soldiers is completely inhumane and condemnable in the strongest possible terms. We expressly ask the US government to urgently investigate the video and apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime," he said.
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said it "strongly condemns the actions depicted in the video, which appear to have been conducted by a small group of US individuals, who apparently are no longer serving in Afghanistan".
"This disrespectful act is inexplicable and not in keeping with the high moral standards we expect of coalition forces," it said.
The US military said it is "deeply troubled" by the film but added that its authenticity has yet to be confirmed. However, the condemnation from Isaf and the Afghan leadership suggested that there is little doubt the video is genuine.
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, told the BBC that it is not the first time Americans had carried out such a "wild action". But another different Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the video "is not a political process, so the video will not harm our talks and prisoner exchange because they are at the preliminary stage".
The exposure of the video, widely viewed on the web, comes as the Obama administration attempts to fire up peace talks with the Taliban before the US begins to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan.
Marc Grossman, the White House special representative, will meet Karzai in Kabul this weekend as well as officials in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Last week, the Taliban announced it would to set up a political office in Qatar which appears to be an important step toward negotiations. Washington is considering reciprocating by releasing several Taliban prisoners from the Guantanamo jail as a confidence-building measure.
While the latest revelation of abuses does not appear likely to derail the latest peace effort it again raises questions about whether there is a culture of abuse in US forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Last year, 11 soldiers were convicted over the murders of three Afghan civilians by a "kill squad" and the subsequent cover up. It was revealed that some of them collected body parts, including fingers and skull parts, as trophies, and posed for photographs over the corpses of their victims.
This week, a US marine went on trial over the killing of 24 Iraqis, including women and children, in their homes. Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich faces charges of manslaughter over the killings as he commanded a group of soldiers who burst into the victims' homes in Haditha in search of combatants. Seven other soldiers also charged were either acquitted or had the case against them dropped.
The US military is also still grappling with the legacy of the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and its role in the torture of alleged terrorists.
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