American commanders in Aghanistan have begun an investigation into claims that US soldiers burnt the bodies of two Taleban fighters to taunt a village suspected of harbouring militants.

The inquiry follows footage broadcast on Australian television last night that appeared to show a specially trained US Army psychological operations unit burning the bodies and then mocking villagers in Gonbaz, near the former Taleban stronghold of Kandahar.

Today, Major General Jason Kamiya, commander of the Combined Joint Task in Afghanistan, said the US Army Criminal Investigation Division had started an investigation.

"This command takes all allegations of misconduct or inappropriate behavior seriously and has directed an investigation," said General Kamiya in a statement released by Bagram air base in Afghanistan.

"This command does not condone the mistreatment of enemy combatants or the desecration of their religious and cultural beliefs."

The footage shown by SBS television was filmed by Stephen Dupont, a freelance journalist who says he was embedded with the 173rd Airborne Brigade of the US Army on October 1.

The footage also shows two soldiers with American accents, identified by SBS as being part of a US Army psychological operations team, reading messages in English that they had allegedly earlier read out to inhabitants of Gonbaz in the local dialect.

"Taleban, you are all cowardly dogs. You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burnt. You are too scared to come down and retrieve their bodies. This just proves you are the lady boys we always believed you to be," said one soldier identified by SBS as Sergeant Jim Baker.

An unnamed soldier read another message: "We know who you are. Your time in Afghanistan is short. You attack and run away like women. You call yourself Talibs but you are a disgrace to the Muslim religion and you bring shame upon your family. Come and fight like men instead of the cowardly dogs you are."

According to Islamic tradition, bodies should not be cremated, rather they should be washed, prayed over, wrapped in white cloth and buried simply as soon as possible.

In his report, Dupont said that the US soldiers who burnt the bodies said they did so for hygiene reasons. But Dupont said the messages later broadcast by the psychological operations unit indicated they were aware that the cremation would be perceived as a desecration.

"They used that as a psychological warfare, I guess you’d call it. They used the fact that the Taleban were burned facing west (toward Mecca)," Dupont told SBS. "They deliberately wanted to incite that much anger from the Taleban so the Taleban could attack them ... that’s the only way they can find them."

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