Unconfirmed report surfaces that one of Guantánamo detainees exchanged for US army prisoner of war reached out to comrades to encourage attacks

Speculation is mounting that one of the senior Taliban detainees swapped for a US army prisoner of war has returned to militancy, following a leak to CNN.

No US official has yet confirmed the allegation, on or off the record. If true, it stands to plunge the Obama administration back into an acrimonious debate about its prisoner exchange for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl – and its long-frustrated aim of closing Guantánamo Bay.

CNN reported on Thursday that one of five Taliban members formerly held by the US at Guantánamo may have re-engaged in unspecified terrorist activity. Representative Devin Nunes, the California Republican who chairs the House intelligence committee, said in a statement he “cannot confirm or deny” the report.

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A representative for the committee, Jack Langer, said classification restrictions would not permit additional detail on whether the Taliban member actually committed a terrorist or militant act, nor which ex-detainee is believed to be the subject of the speculation.

Langer also would not comment on when the committee learned of the allegation against the former detainee, but said that as part of the committee’s oversight responsibilities, it would scrutinize the issue.

So will the Senate armed services committee. “The committee is looking into the details of this issue,” said Dustin Walker, a spokesman, who could not confirm the allegation. He noted that panel chairman Senator John McCain “has expressed concern in the past about the potential for these prisoners to return to the fight”.

Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Noori, Mohammed Nabi, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Abdul Haq Wasiq, all detained at Guantánamo since the early days of the Afghanistan war, were placed under monitoring of the emir of Qatar in exchange for Bergdahl. They were not returned to Afghanistan, and are not believed to be there now.



The exact terms of the trade, which occurred in late May 2014, have not been disclosed, but the so-called Taliban Five were said to have been required to remain in Qatar for one year. The Obama administration has said from the start that assurances provided by the emir gave the US sufficient visibility into future activities and potential threats from the five men.

Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser, said after the deal was finalized that “in all likelihood” the five ex-detainees “will not pose a national security risk”.

According to CNN, intercepted communications from the suspected detainee indicate he has reached out to his Taliban comrades to encourage additional attacks in a war in which the Obama administration has drawn down US forces. Approximately 10,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan, with residual counter-terrorism and training missions but said to be no longer taking part in major combat.

From the start, the Bergdahl swap drew criticism from congressional Republicans. Several contended that releasing the five senior Taliban from Afghanistan was a price too high for Bergdahl, whom the Taliban captured in 2009 following a murky decision Bergdahl apparently made to leave his unit’s base in eastern Afghanistan. House Republicans in particular blasted the US defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, for failing to notify them, as required by law, 30 days before the intended trade, which the administration indicated would have jeopardized the deal.

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While Bergdahl is now assigned to an army base in Texas, the army is investigating whether he should be charged with desertion. This week it batted back media reports that it had decided he would be.

McCain, himself a prisoner of war for five years in Vietnam, has not criticized Bergdahl. But he said when the trade occurred that the senior Taliban were “big, high-level people, possibly responsible for the deaths of thousands”.

Nunes, in his statement, warned that if Obama continued with his intended transfers of detainees from Guantánamo, “there will be a steep price to pay – very likely in American lives”.

On Monday, the former administration envoy for closing Guantánamo underscored Obama’s intention to redouble efforts to shutter the controversial facility before his presidency ends, fulfilling a long-frustrated pledge. Additional transfers are expected in the coming weeks.



Cliff Sloan, who left the State Department on 31 December, told the Guardian the administration was prioritizing the transfer of detainees already deemed by six agencies, including the military and intelligence leadership, not to pose significant national security risks.