Two confirmed as joining militant groups in first six months of 2016 – but rate was much higher in Bush years, says intelligence assessment

Two more people released from the US prison at Guantánamo Bay joined militant groups in the first six months of 2016, the US government has confirmed.



A total of nine people freed from Guantánamo have ended up on the battlefield since President Barack Obama took office in 2009, according to a report issued by the Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Obama’s predecessor, George Bush, released far more detainees from Guantánamo and a higher proportion of them took up arms. Out of the 532 his administration let out, 113 went on to militant activities, representing 21.2%.

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In all the Obama administration has released 161 prisoners from Guantánamo since 2009, including 17 in the first six months of this year, according to ODNI. Nine of them had joined insurgencies, representing 5.6%.

The report said the number of prisoners freed by the Obama administration whom US agencies “suspect” of having joined insurgencies dropped to 11 from 12 between January and July. An official familiar with the latest statistics said this number dropped because a freed detainee previously categorised as “suspected” of going to the battlefield had since been confirmed to have done so.



The US opened the Guantánamo detention facility in 2002, the year after the 9/11 attacks by Islamist militants on New York and Washington, to hold what it described as foreign terrorism suspects. Most have been held without charge or trial for more than a decade, drawing international condemnation.

Obama had hoped to close the prison during his first year in office. In February he rolled out a plan aimed at shutting it, but that is opposed by many Republican lawmakers and some of his fellow Democrats.

With Reuters