Three Americans held over 'private' Afghan jail

Afghan forces arrested three Americans on a freelance counter-terrorism mission after bursting into a private jail that the trio were allegedly running and finding prisoners hanging from their feet, officials said.

The US military, facing a widening investigation into prisoner abuse, quickly distanced itself from the three, who had been posing as American agents before their detention on Monday in Kabul.

Afghan officials also dismissed claims by the apparent ringleader, a purported former Green Beret called Jonathan K. Idema, that he was a “special adviser” to their security forces.

The Americans and four Afghans that were detained along with them “formed a group and pretended they were fighting terrorism,” Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said. “They arrested eight people from across Kabul and put them in their jail.”

Another Afghan security official said intelligence and police officials who raided the group’s house on Monday found the prisoners hanging by their feet.

Jalali said the American-led group had no “legal link” to any Afghan or other authorities.

Still, officials said they were seen regularly around Kabul wearing military uniforms and armed with assault rifles.

Idema, described in media reports as an ex-special forces operative better known as “Jack,” first appeared in Afghanistan in late 2001, when US and allied Afghan forces routed the Taliban.

He featured prominently in a top-selling book called “The Hunt for Bin Laden,” which says he fought for 10 months with the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.

One police official said Idema’s group appeared to be behind the disappearance of a man in west Kabul three weeks ago.

Jalali said all eight prisoners found on Monday were released. It was not clear how long they had been held.