This 2010, file photo reviewed by the U.S. military, shows a U.S. military guard walking a corridor between detainee cells at the Parwan detention facility near Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan. An Afghan official says the government has freed 65 accused militants from a former U.S. prison despite protests from the American military, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014.KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghanistan released 65 accused militants from a former U.S. prison on Thursday despite protests from the American military, which says the men are Taliban fighters who will likely return to the battlefield to kill coalition and Afghan forces.
The release was ordered by President Hamid Karzai several weeks ago, after his government took over the prison from U.S. troops.
The decision prompted angry denunciations from Washington and strained relations between the two countries ahead of the year-end withdrawal of most international combat troops. U.S. forces in Afghanistan say some of the men are responsible for killing or wounding dozens of international and Afghan soldiers.
The prisoners were freed just after 9 a.m. from the Parwan Detention Facility near Bagram Air Field, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of Kabul, according to prison spokesman Maj. Nimatullah Khaki.
They boarded a bus to leave the facility, laughing and smiling, he said.