A 22-YEAR-OLD Afghan taxi driver whose only crime was driving past a US base at the wrong time was so badly beaten his legs could no longer bend and chained by the wrists to the ceiling of his cell where he eventually died.

Detainees in United States military custody in Afghanistan were the victims of widespread abuse by "young and poorly trained soldiers", according to a report published today.

At least 108 people have died in American custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, most of them violently, according to US government data.