US sends 11 Guantanamo Bay detainees to Oman

US military chiefs have confirmed that 11 men, detained without charge for more than two decades at Guantanamo Bay, have left Cuba.

The Pentagon said on Monday it had transferred the men, who are Yemen nationals, from the US naval base to Oman.

The latest release brings the total number of men now detained at Guantanamo to 15, down from a peak of around 680 in 2003, according to Pentagon data.

Following the 9/11 terror attacks, the site was used to detain mostly Muslim men, from around the world, during what the US called its “war on terror”.

The detention centre was first opened in January 2002 by then president George W Bush to hold terrorism suspects and “illegal enemy combatants”.

Many were taken prisoner during the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and America’s military and covert operations elsewhere.

The facility has been criticised by human rights groups and legal campaigners over potential breaches of international laws and conditions at the camp.

The transfer of the latest 11 detainees was the latest and biggest push by Joe Biden’s administration, in its final weeks, to clear Guantanamo of the last remaining prisoners.

One of those transferred included Shaqawi al Hajj, who had carried out repeated hunger strikes at Guantanamo to protest against his 21 years in prison.

He had also been previously tortured in CIA custody, according to the US-based Center for Constitutional Rights.

Many of those detained in Guantanamo were from Yemen, a country split by war, with its capital held by the Iran-allied Houthi militant group. In the past, however, al Qaeda has been highly active in the country.

“The United States appreciates the willingness of the government of Oman and other partners to support ongoing US efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the US military said in a statement.

Read more from Sky News:
France’s Jean-Marie Le Pen has died
Man charged with stalking Strictly judge
Charlie Hebdo attack – a decade on

The sultanate of Oman, on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, did not acknowledge taking in the detainees, but the country has taken in some 30 prisoners in the past.

Of the remaining 15 detainees, the Pentagon said three are eligible for transfer and an equal number are eligible for a periodic review board to examine their cases.

The remainder have been charged with or convicted of war crimes.