The British army was on Tuesday forced to defend the conduct of British forces in Iraq as 22 photographs of alleged abuse at a Basra aid camp were presented at the court martial of three soldiers charged with harming Iraqis. General Sir Mike Jackson, head of the army, stressed that Britain “condemned utterly” all abuse and said only a “very small” number of the 65,000 troops who had served in Iraq faced abuse allegations. He did not comment directly on the court martial, in the German city of Osnabrück.

One of the three men has admitted one charge of assault but all other charges are denied. They face charges of disgraceful conduct and are accused of simulating beatings and forcing prisoners to simulate sexual acts.