A series of photographs showing US soldiers posing with dead Afghan insurgents has been revealed by the Los Angeles Times newspaper. CCTV correspondent Fintan Monaghan takes a look at the incident which is expected to further damage already strained US-Afghan relations.

An embarrassing breakdown of discipline in the US military - The photos, dating from 2010 and published in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times, show members of the 82nd Airborne Division posing with Afghan police holding the severed legs of a suicide bomber.

US soldier posing next to the corpse of Gul Mudin, an unarmed Afghan civilian killed by their unit on Jan. 15, 2010.

A few months later the same platoon was sent to investigate the remains of three insurgents reported to have accidentally blown themselves up. According to the LA Times, the soldiers again posed and mugged for a photo with the remains.

A photo from the second incident appears to show the hand of a dead insurgent resting on the shoulder of a smiling US soldier.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has apologized for the photographs. He said war can lead young troops to "foolish decisions".

Leon Panetta said, "This is war and I know that war is ugly and it's violent. And I know young people caught up in the moment make some very foolish decisions. But having said that, again that behavior is unacceptable and it will be fully investigated."

James Carafano, an army veteran and security expert at the Heritage Foundation said the incident appeared to reflect a failure of military leadership.

James Carafano said, "Soldiers have to be trained and led. There's a leader who is supposed to be responsible to make sure those kinds of things don't happen."

The photos are the latest in a series of blows to the US military image in Afghanistan. In recent months, American troops have been caught up in controversies over burning Muslim holy books, urinating on Afghan corpses, and an alleged massacre of 17 Afghan villagers.

(CNTV April 20, 2012)