The US military flew another planeload of al Qaeda and Taliban captives from Afghanistan today toward the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It is the second such flight in two days after a two-month delay to build a new prison, US officials said.
The officials, who asked not to be identified, said the military transport with several dozen shackled detainees was expected to arrive at the base later in the day.
There are a total of 331 Afghan war captives currently at the base after 32 were flown in on Wednesday. One of the 300 prisoners held before Wednesday's flight arrived was sent back to Afghanistan because of mental problems, one official said.
The Guantanamo detainees are now being held at Camp Delta, the new jail at the remote American base in south-eastern Cuba.
Transfers of captives from the Afghanistan war theatre to the base were halted in mid-February when the base's controversial open air, chain-link cellblock known as Camp X-Ray was filled to capacity.