British soldier posed thumbs up with body of Taliban fighter in Afghanistan --- The Ministry of Defence is investigating pictures showing a member of the British armed forces in Afghanistan posing with his thumb up beside the dead body of a Taliban fighter. -- An MoD spokesperson described the actions of the soldier as inappropriate. -- The pictures, confirmed as genuine, were taken in 2012 at Camp Bastion in Helmand province immediately after an intense firefight that left two US marines and more than a dozen Taliban dead. -- Two pictures show the soldier, a member of an RAF squadron based at Camp Bastion, kneeling with his thumb up beside the corpse of a Taliban fighter. Members of 51 Squadron RAF Regiment were among the first to confront the Taliban attackers. --- The incident is a breach of the law of armed conflict, but the military hopes it will be seen in context, a young man doing something foolish in the post-battle adrenaline rush. Protests could be expected if there were pictures of desecration of the Koran, but Taliban fighters are viewed as hardened enough to be relatively unmoved by a member of the British forces demonstrating victory or a sense of relief at the end of battle. -- An RAF spokesperson said: "Inappropriate actions will not be tolerated in the armed forces. The RAF is treating this incident extremely seriously and has launched a military police investigation. As this incident is subject to an ongoing investigation it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time." -- The BBC showed the pictures on Friday evening, saying they had first appeared on the website LiveLeak. The MoD said the pictures had come to their attention in April. Two RAF regiment members have been withdrawn from frontline duties, the soldier in the picture and, it is assumed, the one who took it. The investigation is being carried out by the Special Investigations Branch. - More, Ewen MacAskill, defence correspondent, Guardian