A Facebook group consisting of thousands of US Marines and Marine veterans has shared nude photos of women including female military members. Most of the photos were taken without the awareness of the victims. Investigations are underway.

The Facebook group, called “Marines United”, was followed by more than 30,000 active-duty and retired male Marines, Navy Corpsmen, and British Royal Marines. 

Members of the group posted obscene comments about the women pictured, officials told the Associated Press. At least two dozen women photographed were identified by their full names, ranks and military duty stations.

"There is no honor in denigrating a fellow Marine in any way, shape or form," said General Robert Neller, the commandant of the Marine Corps, on Friday at the Pentagon.

The general said that fewer than 10 victims have come forward, and he pleaded with female Marines to “trust us” and reach out to make complaints to seek help.

“I need their help,” said Neller, “I’m going to ask them to trust us. I understand why that might be a bit of a reach for them right now. But I can’t fix this. ... The only way there is going to be accountability in this is somebody comes forward and tells us what happened to them.”

And a top member of the Marines, Senior Master Sgt. Ronald Green, said that the Facebook Group “Marines United” originally at the center of the scandal is just the “tip of the spear.”

On February 1, the Marine Corps had the site that was sharing the nude photos shut down, but later learned about a link to Google Drive files which contained the nude photos.

Neller said that an investigation into the incident by Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is underway, and it has spread to all four branches of the military and multiple websites, according to CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.

Besides, the Marine Corps has created a task force to see what actions can be taken, and to come up with practices that both prevent this misbehavior in the future and prevent the "subculture that gave rise to this."

On Friday, officials said US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will meet military and civilian officials in coming days about the reports.

Mattis also issued a statement on Friday condemning the actions.

“The purported actions of civilian and military personnel on social media websites, including some associated with the Marines United [Facebook] group and possibly others, represent egregious violations of the fundamental values we uphold at the Department of Defense,” Mattis said.

"We will not excuse or tolerate such behavior if we are to uphold our values and maintain our ability to defeat the enemy on the battlefield," added Mattis.

However, there are still reports that some Marines continued nude-photo sharing in other groups despite the ongoing investigation.