New allegations of prisoner abuse by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have been revealed in Army documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The documents show photographs of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan posing with hooded and bound detainees during mock executions.   The photos were taken at a base in southern Afghanistan (Fire Base Tycze) between December 2003 and February 2004.  Some members of the infantry regiment said they took the pictures for fun and destroyed some of them after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq to avoid another public outrage.

The Afghanistan incident triggered an Army investigation.  Army records show that several soldiers were charged with dereliction of duty, but  more serious charges were not substantiated.

The American Civil Liberties Union says the new documents suggest that abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan may be widespread.  The group had requested information about U.S.-held detainees.