The United States has transferred 12 detainees from its prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to locations in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia.
The U.S. Department of Justice said today that six Yemenis, four Afghans, and two Somali detainees were sent to their homelands over the weekend.
U.S. officials had said last week that a group of Guantanamo detainees will be transferred to a maximum-security prison in the northern U.S. state of Illinois.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the administration intends to release or extradite 116 Guantanamo detainees to either countries of origin or to third countries willing to accept them.
compiled from agency reports