Troops Punished for Burning Korans, Urinating on Dead

Six soldiers and three Marines who infuriated Afghans and sparked riots in a pair of high-profile incidents will not face criminal charges, the military says. The soldiers who accidentally burned some 100 Korans have received administrative punishments instead, including potentially career-ending letters of reprimand, Stripes reports. The Marines who were videotaped urinating on the corpses of dead Taliban fighters will receive similar punishments, probably including reprimands, reductions in rank, and cuts in pay, officials say.

The Koran-burning sparked several attacks on US troops and rioting that killed at least 30 people across Afghanistan. The Army's probe of the incident found that the books had been removed during a sweep of a detention facility after guards discovered that inmates were using books to pass messages, Reuters reports. A translator warned that some of the books—including versions of the Koran—were extremist in nature, but did not tell US forces how to properly dispose of the texts. (More Afghanistan stories.)