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The Polish army has lunched an investigation into the contents of a video showing its soldiers blowing up an Afghan civilian home just for fun.
The newly released video shows a group of Polish soldiers during their tour of duty between October 2009 and April 2010, explode an Afghan Civilian home while joking around.
"Most probably it was a deserted house in the middle of nowhere, as it looks on the film," said on Friday Col. Piotr Lukasiewicz, a Ministry of Defense official who represents Polish operations in Afghanistan, AP reported.
Lukasiewicz said he has known soldiers who would joke around while taking part in their missions. However, he said that blowing up a family's home just for fun would put the three accused soldiers in hot water.
"If it's true that they did it just for fun, it is shameful for a military," he said.
"It's not the usual conduct of Polish soldiers, who are doing a great job in Afghanistan. It would be embarrassing but it doesn't reflect the whole contingent."
Three Polish soldiers are involved in the issue and are being probed.
Poland maintains a 2,600-strong military presence in Afghanistan.
Reports now speculate that Polish soldiers may have regularly blown up Afghan civilian houses.
The incident comes at a time when anger and frustration have been mounting among Afghans over the deaths of civilians at the hand of US-led forces.
The UN has put the number of civilian casualties at nearly 1,300 so far this year. It blames a quarter of the deaths on foreign troops.
The newly released video shows a group of Polish soldiers during their tour of duty between October 2009 and April 2010, explode an Afghan Civilian home while joking around.
"Most probably it was a deserted house in the middle of nowhere, as it looks on the film," said on Friday Col. Piotr Lukasiewicz, a Ministry of Defense official who represents Polish operations in Afghanistan, AP reported.
Lukasiewicz said he has known soldiers who would joke around while taking part in their missions. However, he said that blowing up a family's home just for fun would put the three accused soldiers in hot water.
"If it's true that they did it just for fun, it is shameful for a military," he said.
"It's not the usual conduct of Polish soldiers, who are doing a great job in Afghanistan. It would be embarrassing but it doesn't reflect the whole contingent."
Three Polish soldiers are involved in the issue and are being probed.
Poland maintains a 2,600-strong military presence in Afghanistan.
Reports now speculate that Polish soldiers may have regularly blown up Afghan civilian houses.
The incident comes at a time when anger and frustration have been mounting among Afghans over the deaths of civilians at the hand of US-led forces.
The UN has put the number of civilian casualties at nearly 1,300 so far this year. It blames a quarter of the deaths on foreign troops.
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