OTTAWA - As legislators here fret and stew about whether Canadian soldiers knew suspected Taliban detainees were being mistreated after being handed over to Afghan authorities, U.S. officials have arrested a group of their own soldiers for allegedly killing Afghan civilians for sport and cutting off their fingers as trophies.

Twelve U.S. soldiers have been charged in connection with three killings in Kandahar province that occurred earlier this year. Five are charged with murder, and seven others are accused of conspiring to cover up the murders.

In addition to allegations they threw grenades and fired at Afghan civilians on three separate occasions, killing them for sport and then mutilating their corpses, the soldiers are also accused of cutting off their victims' fingers and keeping other body parts ‹ including a skull, leg bones and a human tooth ‹ as trophies, according to U.S. military records released this week and reported on by U.S. news outlets.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

In Ottawa Thursday, Parliament's Military Police Complaints Commission heard from another Canadian Forces general who denied he was ever warned about Afghan detainees being mistreated or tortured by Afghan authorities.

"It's a juxtaposition that I'd rather not have to acknowledge. One extreme on one side, and let's face it, another extreme on the other," said retired Canadian Forces major-general Lewis MacKenzie. "If I remember one of the descriptions (from the commission hearings), at one stage one of our folks forcefully grabbed the arm of a detainee.

"Heaven forbid."

Capt. Jennifer Kellerman, a spokeswoman for Canada's defence department, said there is no evidence to suggest the accused U.S. soldiers, members of the 5th Stryker Brigade in Kandahar province, were ever under Canadian command, despite Canada's presence in the region.

Canada is not assisting in the investigation and hasn't been asked to do so by the U.S., she added.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Thursday he was "not aware" of the U.S. arrests and wouldn't comment.

MacKenzie said stories like this from the front not only damage the mission's image with a sometimes wary public, they are also hugely insulting to all the troops in Afghanistan.

"It's another stake in their heart," he said. "There's a hell of a lot of people making sacrifices and if this is proven to be true Š guys will be really pissed off about this.

"One's that are there, one's that have been there, one's that are about to go, one's that are about to come back, all of them are upset by these kinds of stories. It's like kicking somebody when they're down."

bryn.weese@sunmedia.ca