WASHINGTON: A Russian held for years by the US military in Afghanistan would be flown to the United States to face trial, marking the first such transfer for a foreign fighter from the country, officials said on Friday.

The detainee is one of 13 foreigners who remain under detention by US authorities at a wing of the Parwan prison near Bagram in Afghanistan, on suspicion of fighting with Taliban militants.

“We can confirm that a detainee at the Parwan detention facility in Afghanistan will be transferred to law enforcement custody and brought to the United States for trial,” a defence official said.

The detainee would face “terrorism-related charges” in federal court, the official said.

The detainee was a Russian national, known by the nom de guerre of Irek Hamidullan, who allegedly led militant attacks in 2009 that wounded or killed American forces, officials said, confirming media reports.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the case.

Although other detainees at Parwan have been quietly repatriated to other countries, this is the first time an inmate will be transferred to US soil from the prison.

The American combat mission in Afghanistan is due to wrap up this year, and Washington is anxious to transfer the remaining foreign detainees at Parwan by the end of December.

A Pentagon spokesman said the US military was seeking to transfer more detainees out of the prison, without confirming whether they might be flown to the United States for trial.

“The Defence Department is working diligently to transfer the handful of remaining non-Afghan detainees at the Afghan National Detention Facility-Parwan prior to December 31,” Lieutenant Colonel Myles Caggins said.

Published in Dawn, October 25th , 2014