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Speaking at a news conference, Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, said that Sunday's decision was made during a meeting of the National Security Council because of the reports.

Mr. Faizi said the government wanted the individuals accused of torture, whom he did not identify, to be handed over to the government.

Wardak is a restive province next to Kabul and has been the focus of counterinsurgency efforts.

The announcement came just days after NATO defense ministers said that they had made progress toward planning a military assistance mission in Afghanistan after the alliance's combat role expires at the end of 2014.

A draft proposal discussed last week in Brussels for possible NATO operations in Afghanistan after 2014 envisions a force of up to 9,500 American troops and up to 6,000 more from other coalition nations, according to alliance officials, who stressed that no final decisions had been made. Other NATO officials said the combined American and allied force would be smaller — 8,000 to 12,000 troops.