LOS ANGELES: Lawyers for a Southern California man who was held in Afghanistan on charges he plotted to help al Qaeda militants say he was severely beaten when captured.

US Army veteran Sohiel Omar Kabir, 35, suffered a fractured facial bone, lacerations to his face and head and an eye injury, his attorneys said ahead of a hearing. Kabir has been in federal detention since he was returned to the Los Angeles area from Afghanistan on December 3.