Afghans’ planned prisoner releases anger US

Washington has expressed concern over Kabul’s decision to release dozens of Taliban prisoners seen by the US as dangerous criminals.

The US military claims the prisoners are dangerous insurgents who are responsible for dozens of NATO and Afghan deaths.

“The ARB [Afghan Review Board] is releasing back to society dangerous insurgents who have Afghan blood on their hands,” the US military said in a statement on Monday.

This contradicts an Afghan government statement that the inmates were not militants.

The development comes as Afghanistan says it is planning to release 37 prisoners held at Bagram jail near the capital Kabul, despite strong opposition from the United States.

The inmates could walk free within two weeks. Kabul says this will be the first batch of 72 detainees who will be freed due to lack of evidence.

The issue is threatening to further strain Washington-Kabul relations.

Tensions have been high between the two countries over the signing of a long-delayed security deal which would allow US forces to remain in Afghanistan beyond the 2014 withdrawal date.

Several months ago, Washington and Kabul signed a deal under which the US consented to give control of the Bagram Detention Center in the northeastern province of Parwan to Afghan forces.

In November 2012, Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered Afghan forces to take control of the prison and accused US officials of failing to fully comply with the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding on Detentions.