Military investigating report of Afghan detainee’s death at base

KABUL, Afghanistan – The U.S. military is investigating whether American soldiers abused an Afghan detainee so badly that he died last year at a special forces base in southeastern Afghanistan, an official said Tuesday.

Chris Grey, a spokesman for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, said the military was responding to an account in the Los Angeles Times of how an 18-year-old Afghan named Jamal Naseer died after he and seven other militia soldiers were seized by U.S. soldiers in March 2003.

Citing a report by Afghan military prosecutors and witness statements, the newspaper said the men were held for 17 days at the special forces base in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province.

Survivors said they were beaten, hung upside down and struck repeatedly with sticks, rubber hoses and cables, the newspaper reported. Some alleged they were immersed in cold water, made to lie in the snow, or subjected to electric shocks.

It said Naseer died on March 16 after complaining of abdominal pains.