ISLAMABAD: Nine Pakistani detainees have been released from the infamous prison at the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan and repatriated to Pakistan, the Foreign Office (FO) told Dawn on Thursday.

According to a statement issued by Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) — a legal aid firm that represents some of the detainees — the families of the released prisoners were informed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that the men had been handed over to Pakistani authorities.

FO Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told Dawn that the men had arrived in the country early Thursday morning and that the FO had coordinated their release with US authorities.

Earlier this year in May, US authorities released 10 prisoners from the facility, nine of whom have returned to their families.

Ms Aslam said that with this latest repatriation of nine men, only one batch of Pakistani prisoners remained at Bagram. “Their nationalities are being verified by the Interior Ministry and as soon as we have that information, we will be able to proceed further,” she told Dawn over the phone on Thursday evening.

The freed men include Abdul Nabi and Sadar Muhammad from Qila Haroot in Balochistan; Zabet and Imran from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas; Imtiaz Khan, Shoaib Khan and Latifullah from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Imranul Hassan from Lahore and Mohammad Iqbal from Karachi. According to JPP, all have been held for several years without access to legal counsel.

JPP has been representing the families of the Bagram detainees since 2010 before the Lahore High Court.

JPP lead counsel Sarah Belal told Dawn that while they were “pleased to learn about the recent releases from Bagram and are delighted for their families”, the clock was ticking on the remaining prisoners.

President Barack Obama, in line with his previous plan to ensure a US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, envisioned December 31, 2014 as the date for the closure of the Bagram prison.

Around half the facility’s inmates have already been transferred to the Parwan Detention Centre, run by Afghan authorities in the same premises. However, third-country nationals are still in US custody at what remains of the Bagram prison.

Ms Belal said that if the remaining detainees are not repatriated by the time the prison is completely handed over to Afghan authorities, there is a danger that remaining inmates may never be heard from again.

Earlier this month, Sartaj Aziz, who advises the prime minister on foreign affairs, told the National Assembly that according to information received from the US Embassy in Islamabad, 24 Pakistani nationals were detained in Bagram.

With the release of the nine men, that number should theoretically come down to 15. But Ms Belal said that in the absence of any verified figures, there was no way of really knowing how many Pakistanis were still there.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2014