Pentagon announces 15 prisoners have been transferred out of Guantanamo Bay

This is the single largest transfer of Guantanamo detainees during Obama’s administration.

Six of the inmates were unanimously approved by a task force comprised of six departments and agencies.

Though President Barack Obama vowed to close down the infamous camp, established by the Bush administration in 2002, he has been unable to do so, due to opposition from Congress and the military.

According to the pentagon, the transfer of 12 Yemeni nationals and three Afghans brings the total number of prisoners down to 61 at the United States facility in Cuba.

“Most of the detainees who remain at Guantanamo are the worst of the worst, as demonstrated by the fact that 93 percent of the detainees who remained there as of late a year ago had been assessed as a high risk for a return to terrorism”, Ayotte said.

The Afghan detainees transferred to UAE are Obaidullah, Muhammad Kamin, and Hamid Al-Razak.

Republicans and some Democrats in the United States, however, say the global outreach is not worth the risk to U.S. security that comes from releasing the type of prisoners who have been held at the naval base.

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks in NY, about 780 inmates have been kept at Guantanamo.

The Guantanamo prison has held about 780 inmates in all since it was opened shortly after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

A State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity said the UAE had resettled five detainees transferred in November 2015.

However, the closure plan left unanswered a crucial question as to where the administration would put some detainees ineligible for transfers inside the United States.

Human rights groups and lawyers for the captives disputed Ayotte’s claims and questioned the veracity of the biographical details of the detainees.

The White House also wants to transfer the remainder to the USA – but Congress is opposed. “The American people are counting on us to protect them”, said Hudson on the floor of the U.S. House.

The Pentagon has previously struggled to find a third country to take Yemeni detainees because of the civil war in their nation. As of today, 693 of them have either been released or transferred to another country.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pledged earlier on Monday to keep the detention facility open during his speech on countering ISIS.