Afghanistan, Washington and the Taliban condemned Thursday a video purporting to show US Marines urinating on corpses of insurgents, but the Islamists said it was unlikely to derail peace talks.
United States Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called the footage, which was posted online, "utterly deplorable" and vowed that "those found to have engaged in such conduct will be held accountable to the fullest extent".
The US military said it was investigating the "disgusting" video of what appears to be four servicemen dressed in United States military uniform urinating onto three bloodied bodies.
If authentic, the images -- which conjure up previous abuses committed by US troops in Iraq and during the decade-long Afghan war -- could spark deep anger and resentment in Afghanistan and the wider Muslim world.
The Taliban, who have made recent moves to talk an end to 10 years of war in the impoverished country, described the apparent abuse as "an inhumane and savage act by the American soldiers in Afghanistan".
But spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed added that he did not think it would destroy tentative peace negotiations with the US "which at this stage are mainly about prisoner exchange".
Earlier in the day, the insurgents issued another statement supporting talks to end the war against US-led forces, while warning that this did not mean surrender.
The Pentagon says it has not yet verified the footage, which has been broadcast by leading Afghan television station Tolo News.
In it, one of the men, apparently aware that they are being filmed, says: "Have a great day, buddy", referring to one of the dead.
"It turned my stomach," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said of the video, which was posted on the Live Leak website.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in a statement that "the government of Afghanistan is deeply disturbed" of what it called "desecrating dead bodies of three Afghans".
"This act by American soldiers is simply inhuman and condemnable in the strongest possible terms," said the statement.
"We expressly ask the US government to urgently investigate the video and apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime."
NATO forces in Afghanistan also condemned the video as appearing to show "US military personnel committing an inappropriate act with enemy corpses.
"This disrespectful act is inexplicable and not in keeping with the high moral standards we expect of coalition forces.
"ISAF (the International Security Assistance Force) strongly condemns the actions depicted in the video, which appear to have been conducted by a small group of US individuals who apparently are no longer serving in Afghanistan."
On the subject of the peace talks, the Taliban, who have announced their readiness to open a political office in Qatar, said they had increased their "political efforts to come to mutual understanding with the world".
"But this understanding does not mean a surrender from jihad and neither is it connected to an acceptance of the constitution of the stooge Kabul administration," the hardline Islamists said in a statement received by AFP.
"But rather the Islamic Emirate (the Taliban) is utilising its political wing alongside its military presence and jihad in order to realise the national and Islamic aspirations of the nation and its martyrs."
The statement could be seen as reassurance to rank-and-file Taliban members that the leadership is not abandoning jihad, or holy war, as it enters negotiations.
It came as the United States announced that it would send a senior official to meet Karzai next week to see whether he agrees to a resumption of preliminary talks with the Taliban.
A US official said the talks could open within weeks if Karzai was agreeable.
A key Washington demand for any progress in negotiations is that the Taliban accept the Afghan constitution, which mandates protection for the rights of women and minorities, which were stifled during Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001.
Another crucial element would be a renunciation of violence by the Taliban and a break with Al-Qaeda and other "terrorist" groups, the US says.
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