Two improvised weapons have been found at a US detention centre in Afghanistan where al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects are being held.
Colonel Roger King, the US military's chief spokesman in Afghanistan, said the weapons were found in a toilet block at the facility at Bagram air base, north of Kabul.
"It was actually two types of weapons: stabbing weapons and choking wires made from things the detainees found in the vicinity," Col King said.
He refused to comment on any changes in security arrangements at the detention centre in the wake of the discoveries.
The holding facility at Bagram is shrouded in secrecy and has been the centre of several allegations of torture and abuse of inmates.
This month the US military confirmed it was investigating the death last December of two prisoners from "blunt force injuries" at Bagram.
Col King confirmed the deaths were listed as homicides, but said suspected foul play was had not been confirmed.
Bagram is believed to be the current location of a leading alleged al-Qaeda leader Mr Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who was arrested this month by intelligence officials in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi.
The US military has refused to confirm or deny his presence.
In a separate incident outside Bagram base yesterday, an Afghan man was killed and several others injured in an apparent accident which resulted in the detonation of a large quantity of explosive material.
"Apparently a local man in Bagram town was extracting propellant powder from ammunition and after he had a considerable pile, he accidentally set it off," Col King said.
AFP