'US jailers tortured innocent Afghan to death'

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.

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

A 2,000-page confidential file obtained by the New York Times reveals brutal treatment of prisoners, apparently often born out of little more than boredom.