A GERMAN newspaper published more photographs Saturday showing soldiers posing with human skulls and bones in Afghanistan as pressure mounted on the government to find the culprits.

The defense ministry suspended two soldiers Friday over a first set of photos published last week, and four former soldiers are also under investigation.

However, the Bild newspaper said the new pictures proved that German soldiers in Afghanistan regularly photographed skeletons and skulls, sometimes in obscene poses.

Soldiers told the newspaper it was a common way for the 2800 Germans serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to pass the time in between their peacekeeping and reconstruction activities.

The pictures, taken in 2003, have provoked widespread expressions of disgust and triggered a review of training for foreign deployments.

Defense Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe said the pictures were taken near Kabul. He said the skulls were found near the wrecks of Russian-made tanks.

It was unclear whether the human remains were those of the tank crews.

(SD-Agencies)