Prisoner abuse cases confirmed by US

THE US military has found a total of 94 cases of confirmed or alleged abuse of prisoners by American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan since the autumn of 2001, the army’s inspector general said yesterday in a long-awaited report made public at a hastily called Senate hearing.

The Defence Department had refused to give a total number of abuse allegations since the prisoner abuse scandal broke this spring. The number is significantly higher than other previous estimates by Pentagon officials.