PESHAWAR, Nov 12: Sixteen Pakistanis released from Kabul prison, arrived at the Torkham checkpoint late Monday night.

Officials said that one of the prisoners — Lutfullah, son of Azam Khan — who had been suffering from liver infection was immediately rushed to Peshawar for treatment, while the remaining prisoners had been put in a lock-up in Landi Kotal, Khyber Agency.

These people were captured in Afghanistan last year, while fighting along the Taliban government against the Northern Alliance.

The officials believed that the Afghan government released the prisoners on medical ground. “Some of the prisoners are undergoing mental ailment, whereas remaining are suffering from skin and neurosis disorders,” a security official said.

The official, quoting the prisoners, said they were physically tortured during detention in Kabul jail. “I saw marks of torture on their bodies and many of them have lost their memories,” he said.

The officials said the persons who had been booked under the Passport Act would be shifted to Peshawar Central Jail for interrogation.

The released persons were Mohammad Rafiq s/o Badshah (Peshawar), Abdul Ghafoor s/o Haji Mingal (Kohat), Azizur Rehman s/o Noor Rehman (Swabi), Mohammad Rooz s/o Mir Ahmad (Khyber Agency), Mohammad Hussain s/o Faker Din (Rawalpindi), Enayat Ali s/o Sardar Mohammad (Faisalabad), Abdul Waheed s/o Muzaffar Din (Islamabad), Sharif Din s/o Jan Mohammad (Quetta), Mohammad Sharif s/o Jan Mohammad (Khaniwal), Naveeduddin s/o Misbahuddin (Charssada), Rasheed Ahmad s/o Mohammad Hussain (Swat), Bakht Zaman s/o Wahid Zaman (Swat), Ghulam Yahya s/o Mohammad Raheem (Swat), Meraj Khan s/o Alam Khan (Peshawar), Ahmad Iqbal s/o Gul Mohammad (Swat) and Lutfullah, son of Azam Khan.