US releases 80+ prisoners from Afghan facilities News
US releases 80+ prisoners from Afghan facilities

[JURIST] Some 85 prisoners were released from US detention facilities in Afghanistan Sunday after being brought to the Afghan Supreme Court in Kabul, where they swore allegiance to the government in a short ceremony. The prisoners from the south of the country had been held at Bagram airbase [Global Security backgrounder] and another US facility near the former Taliban stronghold of Kandihar. According to an Afghan intelligence officer none had previously been held at Guantanamo Bay. He was quoted in press reports as saying "They were detained for a variety of crimes, some of them perhaps based on mistaken intelligence." In co-operation with the Afghan government US authorities have recently stepped up discharges for Afghan prisoners no longer considered security risks; just last week 17 Afghans were released from US custody at Guantanamo [JURIST report]. AP has more.