Kabul, Aug 30: US-allied Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum has rejected accusations that some 1,000 Taliban prisoners suffocated while in his custody and pledged to cooperate with any investigation into the deaths. Dostum, in a joint statement with two other senior Northern Alliance commanders, admitted that some 200 Taliban followers died in containers while they were being shipped by his men to a prison at his northern Shebarghan stronghold late last year after a lengthy siege in the city of Kunduz.

But the statement said that the deaths were mainly as a result of injuries sustained by the prisoners in the fighting at Kunduz and emphasised that their deaths were not intentional.

"The operation of sending prisoners to Shebarghan prison continued for four days. In no case were any prisoners killed. In no case was there any intention that they should die in containers," it said. "It was of our utmost interest and that of the international coalition to interrogate the prisoners."

The commanders listed suffocation as one of several causes of the 200 deaths they admitted to.

"Most of (the deaths) were due to wounds suffered in the fighting but also due to disease, suffocation, suicide and a general weakness after weeks of intense fighting and bombardment."

A report by Newsweek magazine earlier this month cited a witness quoted in an internal United Nations memorandum who said some 960 people died in the containers. Bureau Report