Two ex-prisoners released from the U.S.-run Guantanamo prison get off a plane in Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb. 12, 2024. The last two Afghan prisoners who had been in the U.S.-run Guantanamo prison for years were set free and returned to Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Monday, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
KABUL, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The last two Afghan prisoners who had been in the U.S.-run Guantanamo prison for years were set free and returned to Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Monday, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported.
"Two Afghan prisoners formerly held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp have returned to Kabul, marking the completion of the release process for all detainees associated with the Islamic Emirate," the news agency said, without providing more details.
Following the invasion of U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan in late 2001, which led to the dismissal of the then Taliban-led Islamic Emirate, the U.S. military arrested a large number of Afghans including Taliban members on the charge of cooperation with the al-Qaida terror network and shifted them to the Guantanamo jail.
Former detainees included some serving ranking officials of the Afghan caretaker government. ■
An ex-prisoner released from the U.S.-run Guantanamo prison waves to the public in Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb. 12, 2024. The last two Afghan prisoners who had been in the U.S.-run Guantanamo prison for years were set free and returned to Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Monday, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)