Associated Press
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — The first planeload of detainees in more than two weeks headed toward this remote base Wednesday, where U.S. troops have finished building temporary cells to hold more al-Qaida and Taliban fighters.
The compound known as Camp X-ray now has 320 temporary cells, allowing authorities to more than double the number of prisoners being held in open-air cells with walls of chain-link fence, Army Col. Terry Carrico said.
A plane carrying the detainees took off late Wednesday from the U.S. military installation in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and a Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity that the group would arrive at Guantanamo Bay on Thursday.
"We are ready to receive additional detainees, and we will do that in the near future," said Carrico, the camp’s commander.
The new arrivals will be the first since authorities began interrogations at the base in eastern Cuba on Jan. 23. The last group of 14 arrived on Jan. 21, and authorities said they could not immediately accommodate more.
During the past two weeks, authorities have taken detainees aside one-by-one for interrogation.
Carrico said troops finished the last of the new cells Sunday, completing the camp, which is ringed with watchtowers and fences topped with coils of razor wire.
"Additional security forces have arrived and have completed their training," said Brig. Gen. Michael Lehnert, a Marine heading the detention mission. "These additional forces will allow us to run Camp X-Ray at full occupancy and at the same time ensure that we have robust security."
On Wednesday, detainees were carted to and from interrogation rooms on stretchers fitted with two wheels. The stretchers are used for all detainees, and their hands and feet remain bound so they are unable to attack their escorts, Lehnert said.
As of Tuesday, the number of detainees held by U.S. forces in the Afghan region stood at 324, officials said.
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