Pictures Of Marines Setting Iraqi Insurgents Bodies On Fire Sparks Investigation (PHOTOS)

The military has launched an internal investigation after photographs of what appears to be Marines setting the bodies of Iraqi insurgents on fire leaked on the Internet.

The images were posted by TMZ on Wednesday, causing the Marine Corps to take action to determine if the incident actually occurred.

The pictures were reportedly taken in Fallujah in 2004, where some of the most intense fighting during the Iraq war occurred. One picture shows what appears to be the charred remains of a skeleton. Another image shows a Marine pouring what looks like gasoline on a corpse. Yet another image shows what looks like the same corpse set on fire.

It's against military policy for members to be seen in photographs with dead bodies, the New York Daily News reported. Military policy also states that members are required to treat the bodies along the lines of Islam.

TMZ said they obtained 41 pictures, but less than 10 were released.

"Many are just too gruesome," TMZ reported. "There are well over a dozen bodies in the pics and some are covered with flies and one is being eaten by a dog."

TMZ said they turned the pictures over to the Pentagon.

"We are currently investigating to determine the veracity of the photos, what the circumstances depicted in them are, and if possible, the identities of the service members involved, Marine Corps spokesman Captain Ty Blazer told the Daily News.

"The results of that will determine whether we are able to move forward with any investigation into possible wrongdoing."

Fallujah was also in the headlines on Jan. 9 when the New York Times reported the Marines who restored order to the city felt their hard work was for nothing when it was recaptured by insurgents this month.

Colonel Steve Warren, director of Press Operations for the Department of Defense, told TMZ he did not want people to think the military supports the burning of insurgents' bodies. A similar case occurred in 2005 when U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan were reprimanded for setting the bodies of their enemies on fire.

"The actions that are depicted in these photos are not in any way representative of the honorable, professional service of the 2 1/2 million service members who went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last decade," Warren told TMZ.

See the leaked photos here.