The U.S. government continues to shrink its ranks of Guantanamo Bay detainees, announcing Saturday that four more have been repatriated -- this time to Afghanistan. The Defense Department identified them as Shawali Khan, Khi Ali Gul, Abdul Ghani and Mohammed Zahir. The U.S. Air Force C-17 carrying them arrived in Afghanistan around 6 a.m. Saturday (10 p.m. ET Friday), Pentagon spokesman Lt. Colonel Myles Caggins told CNN. An administration official told CNN the four detainees are not expected to face further detainment in Afghanistan. In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul expressed appreciation to the Afghan government -- which, since September, has been led by President Ashraf Ghani -- "for helping to reintegrate these former detainees."
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Spokesman: A U.S. Air Force C-17 flew the ex-detainees to Afghanistan
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Repatriation part of U.S. "commitment to close" Gitmo, U.S. envoy says
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Afghanistan will help "reintegrate these former detainees," U.S. embassy says
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Guantanamo Bay has held nearly 800 detainees; there are now 132
This is down significantly from the numbers soon after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when the facility widely known as @placeholder was repurposed to hold detainees from the "war on terror."
"This transfer demonstrates @placeholder support for such a reconciliation process."