US occupation soldier sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to murdering civilians in Afghanistan

American occupation soldier Jeremy Morlock has been sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to murdering three civilians in Afghanistan last year.

Morlock says he and the other soldiers in his group began plotting to murder unarmed Afghans in Kandahar Province in late 2009. He also says he used illegally-obtained Afghan weapons to make it appear that his victims were enemy combatants. To make the killings appear justified, the soldiers planted weapons near the victims' bodies.

Earlier this week, several shocking photos were released showing Morlock and other soldiers posing with dead Afghans. One image features Morlock grinning as he lifts the head of a corpse by its hair.

Morlock had told the military judge presiding over the case that the deaths were neither justified nor accidental. ''The plan was to kill people, sir,'' Morlock told the judge at the start of his court martial.

The US soldiers had reportedly formed what has been called a "kill team" to randomly execute Afghan civilians while on petrol.

Investigators say anyone who dared to report the events was threatened with violence. All five are awaiting court martial and could face life in prison or death if convicted.