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Combat aftermath: enemy corpses?

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  • Combat aftermath: enemy corpses?

    Forgive my ignorance on a volatile subject. A while back an old infantry friend mentioned his unit was reprimanded for leaving the corpse of an insurgent in a crowded Iraqi marketplace. The recent news headlines about marines urinating on a corpse provoked my morbid curiosity.
    What happens to enemy corpses after a battle? Has there been a procedure throughout the years?
    Id be curious to hear from soldiers of different backgrounds on this subject.

    Again, my apologizes if this strikes a nerve with anyone.

  • #2
    The bodies are covered and then to be removed by the civil authorities or an NGO like the Red Cross.

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    • #3
      Making NGOs do it is more of a modern idea.

      Traditionally it's - depending on the nation - a job for either medical personnel or (in particular in the Commonwealth) engineer forces. If both aren't available combat forces on site at least provide a shallow burial.

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      • #4
        I can honestly say I've never even given this a second thought. When shooting someone with a 120mm main gun, there's very little left for anyone to be concerned with, anyway
        Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

        Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

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        • #5
          In US forces, we are supposed to cover and treat with respect and turn over to local authorities.

          In the past, depending on location and resources, graves registration (now mortuary affairs) would bury in a mass grave in various degrees, mark and turn over records to the International Red Cross IAW the Geneva Convention.

          When that is not done you end up with the violent reaction may have seen from several of us on this website when improperly handled.
          “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
          Mark Twain

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          • #6
            In India:
            Insurgents bodies (excluding Jammu & kashmir): Are handed over to the next of kin for cremation/ burial, if claimed.
            Insurgents bodies in Jammu & kashmir: Are handed over to the local priest of the nearest village for burial after police formalities are completed. To ensure that that dead get the last rights as per their faith.
            Killed enemy soldiers: Either handed over to the enemy if requested or last rights carried out with full military honours by own troops.

            Cheers!...on the rocks!!

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            • #7
              Originally posted by lemontree View Post
              Insurgents bodies in Jammu & kashmir: Are handed over to the local priest of the nearest village for burial after police formalities are completed. To ensure that that dead get the last rights as per their faith.
              Captain, I believe this may not always be practiced, especially when the fighting season is heavy and the militant bodies really begin to pile up.

              Several Islamic cemeteries too have started to refuse burial services to terrorists. This was evident in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks where all the Muslim cemeteries and Imams refused burial services to the dead terrorists.

              It would be nice if we could just dump them back on the Pakistani side of the border, but, I believe mass grave burials are also carried out in Kashmir.
              Cow is the only animal that not only inhales oxygen, but also exhales it.
              -Rekha Arya, Former Minister of Animal Husbandry

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Tronic View Post
                Captain, I believe this may not always be practiced, especially when the fighting season is heavy and the militant bodies really begin to pile up.

                Several Islamic cemeteries too have started to refuse burial services to terrorists. This was evident in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks where all the Muslim cemeteries and Imams refused burial services to the dead terrorists.

                It would be nice if we could just dump them back on the Pakistani side of the border, but, I believe mass grave burials are also carried out in Kashmir.
                Most Units have priests who perform the funeral rites if nobody claims the bodies. The InA has already done mass rites in the past.
                sigpicAnd on the sixth day, God created the Field Artillery...

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Tronic View Post
                  Captain, I believe this may not always be practiced, especially when the fighting season is heavy and the militant bodies really begin to pile up.

                  Several Islamic cemeteries too have started to refuse burial services to terrorists. This was evident in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks where all the Muslim cemeteries and Imams refused burial services to the dead terrorists.

                  It would be nice if we could just dump them back on the Pakistani side of the border, but, I believe mass grave burials are also carried out in Kashmir.
                  In the early 90's our ambushes on the LOC (in north Kashmir), use to intercept large insurgent groups, about 150 - 200. This resulted in scores of dead insurgents. The police were allowed to make their report and the maulvi of the nearest village would carry out the last rights. That is why you have these mass graves, as the units would bury them on site and not carry the bodies to any local graveyard.

                  Also remember that initially in the early 90's, the insurgents were locals and slowly the Pakistanis and Afghanis took over. In my sector, a father of a fallen insurgent had come to inquire about his son's grave. His son was killed along with an unidentified Afghani in a ambush laid by our unit, along the LOC. We had buried him along with the Afghani in a local village graveyard and the last rights were conducted by the village maulvi. The Kashmiri was from Srinagar, and had gone across the LOC 3 weeks before he was killed. He had received some weapon training and was pushed across the LOC when he got killed in the ambush.

                  Cheers!...on the rocks!!

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                  • #10
                    there was an interesting article a while back in the WaPo about an afghani whom took it upon himself to identify and bury taliban dead:

                    The man who retrieves the Taliban’s dead - The Washington Post

                    insightful. the taliban apparently have enough of a bureaucracy to be able to track their own casualties.
                    There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by astralis View Post
                      insightful. the taliban apparently have enough of a bureaucracy to be able to track their own casualties.
                      They would have...so many Pak Army servicemen serve in their units.

                      Cheers!...on the rocks!!

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by lemontree View Post
                        They would have...so many Pak Army servicemen serve in their units.
                        Not tha I don't believe you, but are there any sources for this or is it a common knowledge?
                        No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                        To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

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                        • #13
                          Common knowledge.Of course,some of the dead or captured forgot to toss their Pak army ID's.Attention to detail pays.
                          Those who know don't speak
                          He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

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                          • #14
                            lemontree,

                            so many Pak Army servicemen serve in their units.
                            i'd have imagined ISI rather than Pak Army; Army guys should be easier to identify and implicate.

                            probably all in the leadership echelon-- they don't need more foot soldiers. maybe trainers.
                            There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by lemontree View Post
                              In the early 90's our ambushes on the LOC (in north Kashmir), use to intercept large insurgent groups, about 150 - 200. This resulted in scores of dead insurgents. The police were allowed to make their report and the maulvi of the nearest village would carry out the last rights. That is why you have these mass graves, as the units would bury them on site and not carry the bodies to any local graveyard.
                              That is also what I recall LT, however, I was not aware that a local maulvi was still called for the last rites. Thanks for the clarification.

                              Also remember that initially in the early 90's, the insurgents were locals and slowly the Pakistanis and Afghanis took over. In my sector, a father of a fallen insurgent had come to inquire about his son's grave. His son was killed along with an unidentified Afghani in a ambush laid by our unit, along the LOC. We had buried him along with the Afghani in a local village graveyard and the last rights were conducted by the village maulvi. The Kashmiri was from Srinagar, and had gone across the LOC 3 weeks before he was killed. He had received some weapon training and was pushed across the LOC when he got killed in the ambush.
                              The Kashmiri militants were an interesting lot. At the risk of going OT, what is all this hullabaloo about the Ikhwan being revived?
                              Cow is the only animal that not only inhales oxygen, but also exhales it.
                              -Rekha Arya, Former Minister of Animal Husbandry

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