In brief: U.N. cites two ‘credible’ reports of torture by U.S.

GENEVA – The United Nations reported Wednesday that it had uncovered two credible accounts of torture at U.S. military facilities in Afghanistan in recent years during an investigation into the treatment of detainees.

The report, which was devoted primarily to mistreatment of prisoners held in Afghan custody, said the “credible and reliable” accounts came from two detainees who had been held “in a U.S. facility in Maydan Wardak,” a province whose capital of Maidan Shar lies about 20 miles west of Kabul, and “a U.S. special forces facility at Baghlan,” a province that lies north of the Afghan capital.

The report quoted the prisoners as saying the mistreatment in Baghlan occurred in April 2013 and at Maydan Wardak in September 2013.

There have been few verified reports in more recent years, though Afghan authorities have accused Americans of abusing prisoners.

The report said that U.N. investigators brought the allegations to the attention of U.S. military officials during a meeting Sunday and were told that “they were investigated.” But the report does not say what the investigation had found or whether anyone was punished in the cases.

The report also detailed 16 interrogation techniques used by Afghan authorities that constituted torture prohibited by international law. They included beatings by cables, pipes, hoses or wooden sticks, jumping on the detainee’s body, twisting of genitals including with a wrench-like device, and threats of execution and sexual assault.

FAA allows grounded Southwest planes to fly

More than 100 grounded Southwest Airlines planes were back in service Wednesday, after aviation officials approved a plan that would allow the company to keep flying the planes despite lapsed maintenance inspections of backup hydraulic systems.

Southwest Airlines said it grounded 128 of its Boeing 737 aircraft after learning they had been flown without required checks on the backup hydraulic systems, which are meant to control plane rudders in the event the main system fails.

Eighty flights were canceled Tuesday as a result.

Late Tuesday night, Southwest said, the Federal Aviation Administration approved a plan that will allow the airline to operate the aircraft “for a maximum of five days as the checks are completed,” the company said in a statement.

The temporary grounding covered about one-fifth of the airline’s 665-plane fleet.