Military abuse of Afghans should be punished: UN

A REPORT of US military abuse of detainees in Afghanistan is deeply disturbing and those involved should be punished, the United Nations said yesterday.

The abuse, including details of the deaths of two inmates at an Afghan detention centre, took place in 2002 and emerged from a nearly 2,000-page file of US Army investigators, The New York Times said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, speaking before leaving on a US trip, said he was shocked and was demanding action against the culprits as well as custody of Afghan prisoners and supervision of US military searches.