The United States transferred 18 detainees from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Afghanistan and some other countries on Sunday, the Pentagon announced.

Seven detainees were handed over to Afghanistan, six to Yemen, three to Kazakhstan, one to Libya and one to Bangladesh.

Of those handed over to Yemen, one was released, the Pentagon said in a statement.

After Sunday's transfer, around 395 detainees remained at the US navel base at Guantanamo. Of those being held there, around 85 had been determined by the US government to be eligible for transfer or release through a comprehensive series of review processes, the statement said.

According to the Pentagon, around 380 detainees had left Guantanamo since 2002 for other countries, including Albania, Afghanistan, Britain, Egypt, Iran and Iraq.

Last Thursday, the United States transferred 16 detainees from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia.
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The United States opened the detention facility at its naval base in Guantanamo in January 2002 to hold terror suspects and Taliban members mainly captured during the US-led war in Afghanistan.

(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2006)