Two ex-Guantanamo prisoners return to Afghanistan

 
Two former prisoners held at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay until 2017 returned to Afghanistan on Monday, more than 20 years after they were arrested, one of the men's relatives said.

Abdul Karim and Abdul Zahir landed in Kabul early on Monday from Oman, where they had been transferred in 2017 and held under house arrest, said Zahir's son Mohammad Osman and airport staff, AFP reports.

"With the grace of God and efforts by the leaders of the Islamic Emirate, he has returned to the country," Osman said, referring to Afghanistan's Taliban authorities.

US authorities faced accusations of torture and abuse against prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay facility, where many were held without charge or the legal power to challenge their detention.

Most of the military prison's inmates have been released over the years, including senior Taliban leaders. "I am very happy. When I woke up in the morning, I felt like it was Eid for me," said Osman.

The returnees were whisked to a VIP area away from invited media and a jostling crowd of supporters, some clutching bouquets, who had gathered for their arrival.

Zahir arrived at the controversial prison in 2002, the year it opened in Cuba in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, according to Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen and US documents. Karim arrived in 2003, having been detained and held in Pakistan before he was handed over to US custody.

They were among hundreds of suspected militants captured by US forces during the United States's so-called "War on Terror" and held in the secretive prison.