Accessibility links

Breaking News

Kabul To Release 37 Prisoners, Despite U.S. Objections


Prisoners stand in line for release during a ceremony handing over the Bagram prison to Afghan authorities at the U.S. air base north of Kabul in March 2013.
Prisoners stand in line for release during a ceremony handing over the Bagram prison to Afghan authorities at the U.S. air base north of Kabul in March 2013.
KABUL -- Afghan authorities say they have decided to release 37 prisoners blamed by the U.S. military for deadly attacks on foreign and government troops.

Abdul Shukur Dadras, a member of a government committee reviewing detainees at the Parwan Detention Center outside Kabul, said on January 27 that the 37 detainees will be released due to lack of evidence.

The U.S. military in Afghanistan condemned what it called the release of "dangerous insurgents who have blood on their hands."

The facility, near the Bagram air base, was the main detention center housing suspected Taliban insurgents captured by Western military forces until the facility was transferred to Afghan control in 2013.

Dadras said the 37 detainees will be released in the next two weeks, while a review of 51 remaining prisoners continues.

The anticipated prisoner release has further contributed to tense relations between Kabul and Washington.


With reporting by AFP and AP
XS
SM
MD
LG