Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned the actions of five U.S. soldiers accused of being part of a squad that deliberately killed Afghan civilians.
Mr. Karzai said Wednesday the civilians posed no threat to the soldiers, who he said killed for entertainment.
The remarks were his first since the German news magazine Der Spiegel and U.S. magazine Rolling Stone published photos of U.S. soldiers posing and smiling over the bodies of dead civilians.
One of the soldiers in the photos pleaded guilty to murder last week and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock, 22, is the first of five soldiers to be court-martialed for murdering three civilians in southern Kandahar province last year. He told a judge "the plan was to kill people."
The U.S. Army has apologized for "distress" caused by the photographs, and said they are "contrary to the standards and values of the United States Army."
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.