By Associated Press
Kabul, Afghanistan – The U-S military is investigating the deaths of two Afghan civilians in U-S custody in 2003, following a newspaper's report that Army Green Berets from an Alabama-based unit tortured some prisoners. The Los Angeles Times, in a two-part series published Sunday and Monday, reported that prisoner abuse by Special Forces units was more common in Afghanistan than previously reported. The two deaths have been under Army criminal investigation but no charges have been filed, according to a spokesman for U-S Special Forces Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. The Times said the case involves a ten-man National Guard Green Beret unit from Alabama that is alleged to have been involved in questionable killings of two Afghan men. In 2002, Red Cross officials reported to U-S commanders a rash of detainee abuse at Special Forces bases in Afghanistan, mainly those under the control of National Guardsmen with the Alabama-based 20th Special Forces Group. Prisoners held in the Green Beret compound at Gardez alleged they were beaten, kicked, immersed in icy water and deprived of sleep for days. The Times said the Green Beret unit under investigation belongs to the group's First Battalion, based in Huntsville.