Military police are investigating claims that troops from a Scottish-based regiment abused civilians in Iraq, it has been confirmed.
The allegations were contained in a new book entitled Condor Blues by Mark Nicol, based on hundreds of hours of interviews with members of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
The allegations include claims that a 14-year-old boy was kicked and stoned at gunpoint by soldiers after being caught with rifle parts, the Sunday Times reported.
It also claims that soldiers based at Stirling Castle gloated and laughed as they loaded the bodies of dead insurgents into a Land Rover, before realising some were only boys.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said: "We are aware of the allegations and they are subject of an investigation by the Royal Military Police which we can't comment on."
One private is also alleged to to have posed for a picture with his boot on the head of a prisoner, but was ordered to stop by a senior officer amid fears that the pictures may appear in newspapers.
Racism was commonplace, according to the book, with a number of pejorative terms used to describe the native Iraqis by troops.
The MOD spokeswoman added: "If we have any grounds to suspect any criminal action, we will always investigate and take appropriate action, according to what comes out of that."
The author told the Sunday Times that many of the soldiers became brutalised by the climate of violence they experienced in the Gulf.
"They were attacked more than other unit since the Korean war," he said.
