Responding to photographs which have emerged which appear to show a UK serviceman posing with a dead Taliban fighter, Joanne Mariner, Director of Law and Policy at Amnesty International, said:

"These pictures, apparently showing UK soldiers posing triumphantly with the dead bodies of Taliban fighters, are appalling.

“They violate international humanitarian law standards, including common article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the disrespectful and degrading treatment of the bodies of dead combatants.

“There must be a thorough and impartial investigation into this incident; it is encouraging to learn that the UK military has instigated one."