Washington:
The United States has freed up to 20 detainees from a military prison in Afghanistan over the past two years in an effort to promote reconciliation with insurgent groups, the US embassy said on Monday.
The programme was rarely used and the decision to release any detainees took into account whether they posed any further security threat, spokesman Gavin Sundwall said after the Washington Post first reported the move on Monday.
A proposed detainee release begins with conversations between US military officials and insurgent commanders or local Afghan elders -- who promise to reduce violence in their district if certain insurgents are freed, the Post said.
"The Afghans have come to us with the information that might strengthen the reconciliation process," the newspaper quoted US ambassador to Kabul, Ryan Crocker, as saying. "Many times we do act on it."
Mr Sundwall said that the ambassador was referring to "a two-year old, rarely-used programme in which senior military officials, together with their Afghan counterparts, weigh the benefits of releasing certain detainees at the Parwan Detention Facility who are willing to denounce violence and engage in the process of reconciliation.
"Fewer than 20 detainees have ever been released under this program, and the decision to release a detainee takes into account whether they pose any further security threat."
The newspaper, citing US officials on condition of anonymity, said that the programme of releasing "high-level" prisoners was inherently risky.
"Everyone agrees that these are bad guys. But the benefits outweigh the risks," one US official was quoted as saying of the programme being used at the Parwan detention center, an American military prison next to Bagram airfield.
The releases are designed to produce tactical gains for coalition forces but they are not considered part of a bigger deal with the Taliban, the report said.
"We look at detainees who have influence over other insurgents -- individuals whose release could have a calming effect in an entire area," a US official told the newspaper.
"In those cases, the benefits of release could outweigh the reasons for keeping him detained," the official added.
There are around 130000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, mostly from the United States, fighting an insurgency led by the Taliban, an Islamic militia ousted in a US-led invasion in 2001 for harbouring Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
But the troops are due to pull out in 2014, and the US has made efforts to engage the insurgents in peace talks ahead of the withdrawal, when responsibility for security will be handed to Afghan security forces.
The programme was rarely used and the decision to release any detainees took into account whether they posed any further security threat, spokesman Gavin Sundwall said after the Washington Post first reported the move on Monday.
A proposed detainee release begins with conversations between US military officials and insurgent commanders or local Afghan elders -- who promise to reduce violence in their district if certain insurgents are freed, the Post said.
"The Afghans have come to us with the information that might strengthen the reconciliation process," the newspaper quoted US ambassador to Kabul, Ryan Crocker, as saying. "Many times we do act on it."
Mr Sundwall said that the ambassador was referring to "a two-year old, rarely-used programme in which senior military officials, together with their Afghan counterparts, weigh the benefits of releasing certain detainees at the Parwan Detention Facility who are willing to denounce violence and engage in the process of reconciliation.
"Fewer than 20 detainees have ever been released under this program, and the decision to release a detainee takes into account whether they pose any further security threat."
The newspaper, citing US officials on condition of anonymity, said that the programme of releasing "high-level" prisoners was inherently risky.
"Everyone agrees that these are bad guys. But the benefits outweigh the risks," one US official was quoted as saying of the programme being used at the Parwan detention center, an American military prison next to Bagram airfield.
The releases are designed to produce tactical gains for coalition forces but they are not considered part of a bigger deal with the Taliban, the report said.
"We look at detainees who have influence over other insurgents -- individuals whose release could have a calming effect in an entire area," a US official told the newspaper.
"In those cases, the benefits of release could outweigh the reasons for keeping him detained," the official added.
There are around 130000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, mostly from the United States, fighting an insurgency led by the Taliban, an Islamic militia ousted in a US-led invasion in 2001 for harbouring Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
But the troops are due to pull out in 2014, and the US has made efforts to engage the insurgents in peace talks ahead of the withdrawal, when responsibility for security will be handed to Afghan security forces.
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