US concerned about troops, civilian lives after Afghan prisoner release

The United States has declared that it wants the 65 detainees released from the notorious Bagram prison in Afghanistan to be tried in domestic courts. The prisoners were freed despite strong objections by the US military. "The Afghan government bears responsibility for the results of its decision, " said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf, in a statement late on Thursday. "And we are urging it to make every effort to ensure that those released do not commit new acts of violence and terror, and to immediately bring to justice any who would." "We believe these individuals should be referred to the Afghan court system for prosecution under Afghan law," she added, noting that some of the prisoners will return "to fill the ranks of the insurgency." "We do have a legitimate force protection concern for the lives of coalition forces, for the lives of Afghan national security forces and for Afghan civilians," she continued. "Many of these men who have been released, their primary weapon of choice has been the IED (Improvised Explosive Device), which of course poses not just a threat to coalition forces and Afghan forces, but also Afghan civilians." President Hamid Karzai has expressed a desire to close the Bagram facility. 560 prisoners were previously released following a review board decision in the country, with only 112 of them going to trial. There are only 23 detainees currently remaining in the prison, all of whom were handed over by the Americans to the Afghan forces. The decision comes at a tense stage on U.S.-Afghan relations, as Karzai continues to push back against the signing of a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that would ensure some U.S. forces remain in the country after 2014. The US has insisted for several weeks that it must be signed as soon as possible, but has not provided a cutoff date. However Harf explained that regardless of the outcome, the U.S. will continue to show its support. "Obviously we will remain a partner with Afghanistan at the State Department, at USAID, working with the Afghan government and the Afghan people because that's really important to us."