U.S. Admits To Prisoner Deaths In Afghanistan

14 December 2004 -- The United States military has acknowledged that eight prisoners have died in U.S. military custody in Afghanistan.
That's at least two more deaths of prisoners in U.S. custody in Afghanistan than have been previously acknowledged by the U.S. military.

The U.S. military said it has investigated all eight of the cases, with a number of probes still continuing.

The list of death cases was released in Washington after the Human Rights Watch group reported two cases of detainee deaths in Afghanistan that it said had not been acknowledged by the United States.

In an open letter, the group's Asia division director Brad Adams urged the United States to "get serious" about prosecuting people implicated in prisoner deaths and mistreatment.

(AP/AFP/Reuters)