ISLAMABAD, May 19: Two American citizens of Pakistani descent have been freed after more than eight months’ detention in Pakistan on suspicion of having links with militants, it was learnt on Thursday. Kashan Afzal, 25, said he and his younger brother, Zain, 23, had been tortured during the early part of their detention.

“We were released last month after a detention lasting eight months and 10 days,” Kashan told Reuters by telephone from the southern city of Karachi. The Afzal brothers, who were both born in the United States, went missing in August when relatives said about two dozen armed men, who they presumed to be intelligence officers, took them from their home in Karachi.

“Initially we had been tortured,” Afzal said without elaborating. “They kept us in Pakistan, but we don’t know exactly where.” He said he and his brother were questioned by Pakistani as well as American FBI agents. He did not say who was responsible for the torture.

“They have been asking us about jihadi organizations,” he said. “Thank God, we stand cleared of all allegations.” New York-based Human Rights Watch said in March that the Pakistani government should either charge or release the men, and also called on the US government to clarify its involvement, if any, in the case.

Spokesmen for the Pakistani government and the US embassy could not be contacted immediately for comment. The Pakistani government has never confirmed the detention of the brothers.

In its report, the Human Rights Watch said the brothers were known to be Islamist sympathisers and had been members of a militant group operating in the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir, which is claimed by both Pakistan and India.

“However, no evidence has been provided to suggest they have engaged in any criminal or terrorism-related activity, and neither has ever been convicted of any offence,” the rights group said.

Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, has killed or arrested hundreds of Al Qaeda and other militant suspects since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. It has handed many over to US authorities.—Reuters