Pentagon denies telling U.S. troops to ignore sexual abuse of boys in Afghanistan

The Pentagon on Monday denied there was any policy directing U.S. service members to ignore abuse of teenager boys by their Afghan allies, but insisted the issue should be handled by local Afghan law enforcement.

"I can tell you we've never had a policy in place that directs any military member or any government personnel overseas to ignore human rights abuses," said Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis at the daily briefing.

The New York Times reported late Sunday that U.S. service members deployed to Afghanistan were told by their superiors not to intervene in Afghan police officers and military commanders' sexual abuse of boys, even when the abuse occurred on military bases.

While insisting the Pentagon condemned the practice of "boy play", Davis said it was "fundamentally" a local law enforcement issue.

"We have a number of contacts with the Afghan government," said Davis. "What's talked about in this are, while abhorrent, fundamentally an Afghan law enforcement matter."

While reports of the Pentagon's indulgent attitude toward the practice of "bacha bazi", or "boy play" in Afghanistan surfaced in the past, the New York Times revealed that when some U.S. service members intervened, they were punished by the Pentagon for doing so.

According to the report, former U.S. Army Special Forces Capt. Dan Quinn faced disciplinary action after he beat up an Afghan commander who had chained a boy as sex slave to his bed.

The Army was currently forcing another service member, who helped Quinn, to retire, the Times reported. Endi