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A leaked video showing Iraqi soldiers walking several kilometres to their service headquarters without a vehicle has prompted an investigation by the Iraqi defence ministry.

The video shows 13 soldiers on periodic leave walking up to six kilometres from their camp to a main road in search of a vehicle to transport them to their places of service, reported ������’s sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The exhausted soldiers are heard complaining and criticising the government and accusing their leaders of negligence.

"We’ve walked for three kilometres, I swear to God. Our legs hurt from walking in the cold. We haven’t slept," one soldier is heard saying,

Iraqis on social media found it to be "humiliating."

"This is how brave Iraqi soldiers are treated!" one Twitter user said.

🔴 الى وزارة الدفاع و من يهمه الامر
للاسف هكذا يعامل الجندي العراقي الباسل ..!

— Firas W. Alsarray - فراس السراي (@firasalsarrai)

Another social media user asked about the dangers the soldiers were exposed to.

Iraq is still unstable, as the Islamic State group continues to wage a low-level insurgency in the country. Several soldiers, policemen and civilians have been killed in recent months in attacks in vast desert regions and outside major cities.

معقولة هذا حال الجندي العراقي!!!!!
بهيج وضعية ونازل مشي هسه لو يجيهم إرهابي بمسدس مو يقتلهم كلهم!؟!؟!
يارئيس الوزراء
يا وزير الدفاع
وينكم عن هاي المهازل 👇

— ناطق الجبوري (@NateqAl_Jubouri)

Defence Minister Thabet Mohammad Al-Abbasi requested the formation of an inquiry committee to investigate the incident and hold accountable those in charge.

"I will not allow anyone to offend the soldiers while I am present," he said in a statement, adding that he "ordered the formation of an investigative committee to punish those who failed to appeal to the soldiers and leave them in the desert without means of transportation, including battle-wounded soldiers."