KABUL, Afghanistan – Two American soldiers have been charged with assault for allegedly punching two detainees in the chest, shoulders, and stomach at a military base in Afghanistan, the military said yesterday.

The announcement came just 10 days after the military launched an investigation into television footage purportedly showing a group of American soldiers burning the bodies of two dead Taliban rebels.

The charges against the two soldiers include conspiracy to maltreat, assault, and dereliction of duty. The allegations, if substantiated, could lead to disciplinary action, the statement said, adding that neither detainee required medical attention.

The military did not say when the soldiers were charged.

A military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Jerry O’Hara, said the two soldiers were still in Afghanistan “performing their primary duties, but they have nothing to do with detained individuals.”

The alleged assault occurred at a base in southern Uruzgan province in early July, Colonel O’Hara said.

One of the two detainees has since been released, while the other is being held at Bagram, the American military’s headquarters in Afghanistan, about 20 miles north of the capital, Kabul, he said.

Colonel O’Hara said military regulations prevented him from identifying the two detainees or elaborating on why they were detained.

It was not clear if the latest abuse allegation would cause an outcry here. Mistreatment of detainees by Afghan police and Afghan prison guards is not unusual, according to human rights advocates.

“The command remains committed to investigate all allegations of misconduct and will hold individuals responsible for their actions consistent with U.S. military law,” a deputy coalition commander, Brigadier General Jack Sterling, was quoted as saying in the statement announcing the charges.

Attempts to reach Afghan government officials yesterday for comment were not successful.

The last allegation of military abuse here, the alleged burning of the two Tal iban bodies on October 1, was condemned by President Karzai. The government ordered an independent inquiry and called for the perpetrators to be severely punished if found guilty.

Cremation of corpses is banned in Islam. Some Muslim clerics warned of a possible violent anti-American backlash after news of the alleged desecration broke, but so far no demonstrations have occurred.

That may be partially because the video of the alleged act has not been broadcast in Afghanistan and because the burned bodies were purported to be those of two members of the Taliban, a rebel group accused of committing widespread abuses itself.

Yesterday’s allegations were not the first of alleged abuse of military detainees in Afghanistan.

In 2002, two Afghans held at Bagram died after being beaten. Fifteen soldiers have faced charges for those deaths. A year later, another Afghan died while being held at a base in southern Helmand province, according to an autopsy report provided by the Defense Department.