WASHINGTON, April 2: Fifteen more people have been transferred from a detention centre for suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and freed in their home countries, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The detainees came from Afghanistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Sudan, Iraq, Jordan and Yemen, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The 15 were "transferred for release", the Pentagon said, but provided no details on where they were taken.

A defence official said they were dropped off in their home countries.

"The decision to transfer or release a detainee is based on many factors, including whether the detainee is of further intelligence value to the United States and whether he is believed to pose a threat to the US," the statement said.-AFP