The Canadian army will conduct a formal review of whether its soldiers were ordered to turn a blind eye to the sexual abuse of boys by Afghan security forces in Kandahar.

A board of inquiry has been ordered by the army's top commander, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, said a brief statement issued Friday.

The allegation that soldiers were told to "ignore" incidents of sexual assault involving their allies was levelled by a military chaplain last June in a report to her brigade commander.

The chaplain, Jean Johns, said she counselled a Canadian soldier who said he witnessed a boy being raped by an Afghan soldier in late 2006 or early 2007.

The board will determine whether the army's response to the alleged incidents was "adequate, having regard to all circumstances," the statement said.

The president of the board, Brig.-Gen Glenn Nordick, said in the statement his eight-member panel will try to determine what happened and whether any incidents were reported to Canadian commanders.

"We will determine whether the allegations can be substantiated and whether such incidents were reported by the chain of command or other Canadian Forces networks," Nordick said.

The investigation will attempt to determine whether any other separate incidents might have occurred.

News of probe comes months after complaint

Johns, who counsels soldiers with post traumatic stress disorder, wrote her report in March, but had received no response until three months later when the allegations were made public.

Several other Canadian Forces chaplains say they have heard similar claims, but the Defence Department declined to investigate because no Canadian soldier had filed a formal complaint.

It's unclear whether an official complaint prompted the about-face.

"Given the sensitive nature of these allegations, we will make every effort to involve and fully inform the Afghan government as we progress," Nordick said in the statement.

Afghanistan's ambassador in Ottawa welcomed the investigation, but stressed the government of President Hamid Karzai was expecting to work alongside the Canadian military and that any criminal activity would be dealt with by his country's justice system.

"At this point, these are allegations and we all need to gather facts," said Omar Samad in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"I would like to see us get to the bottom of this. I would like to find out what may have happened and see how we can deal with such issues. We want to be able to deal with this using the full force of law."

Little concrete evidence of abuse by Afghan soldiers

Whispers of sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated by Afghan soldiers against young boys have been commonly heard among Canadian troops, with many referring to such incidents as "man love Thursdays."

But the evidence has been overwhelmingly anecdotal, with most soldiers telling embedded journalists they've never witnessed such acts.

There has only been one case brought to the public record.

A Canadian soldier, who served in Afghanistan between September 2006 and February 2007 was quoted by The Toronto Star earlier this year as saying he heard an Afghan National Army soldier abusing a young boy and then saw the boy afterwards with visible signs of rape trauma.

The soldier, Cpl. Travis Schouten, now suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, the Star said.

The board is not expected to complete its investigation until next spring.