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KABUL, Afghanistan - Two U.S. soldiers have been charged with assault for allegedly punching two detainees in the chest, shoulders and stomach at a military base in Afghanistan, the military said Sunday.
The announcement came just 10 days after the military launched an investigation into television footage purportedly showing a group of U.S. soldiers burning the bodies of two dead Taliban rebels.
The charges against the two soldiers include conspiracy to maltreat, assault and dereliction of duty. The allegations, if substantiated, could lead to disciplinary action, the statement said, adding that neither detainee required medical attention.
The military did not say when the soldiers were charged.
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara said the two soldiers were still in Afghanistan "performing their primary duties, but they have nothing to do with detained individuals."
The alleged assault occurred at a base in southern Uruzgan province in early July, O'Hara said.
One of the detainees has since been released, while the other is being held at Bagram, the U.S. military's headquarters in Afghanistan, about 20 miles north of the capital, Kabul, he said.
O'Hara said military regulations prevented him from identifying the detainees or elaborating on why they were detained.