Seven more Afghan detainees under review for release

An additional seven Afghan detainees the U.S. has deemed as dangerous are being reviewed for release, Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s spokesman said on Saturday. 

Last week, Afghanistan released 65 of 88 detainees in question, despite strong U.S. objections and evidence from the U.S. military that the detainees were directly involved in the deaths and injury of U.S. and coalition troops. 

{mosads}Aimal Faizi, spokesman for Karzai, said that evidence was found for only 16 of the 88 detainees, and 65 were found innocent after extensive review by Afghan judges, intelligence officials and the attorney general.  

The remaining seven more are under the review by the attorney general, Faizi said.

The Pentagon remains concerned about the potential release of these other detainees, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said on Friday.

“We’ve made it very clear how we feel about these detainees and how strongly we believe they need to remain locked up,” he said. 

Faizi said it was not the president, but the “Afghan judicial authority” who made the decision. 

“Now, Afghanistan is a sovereign country,” Karzai said last week at a press conference. “If the Afghan judicial authorities decide to release a prisoner, it is of no concern to the U.S. and should be of no concern to the U.S.”