US says it no longer has any detainees in Afghanistan

9 Pakistani prisoners were sent home in August. Another three detainees were handed over to Pakistan on Sunday

As Nato troops continue to transition out of Afghanistan, the United States has pulled out of all prisons in the country and no longer holds any detainees, a US official said on Wednesday.

Asking not to be named, the official confirmed to AFP that after a careful review by the Pentagon and the State Department, the last "third-country nationals" in US custody in Afghanistan had been transferred and the US military no longer operates any detention facilities there.

In March 2013 Afghan forces had taken over control from the US of the Bagram prison, renamed Parwan, and located on the sprawling US military airbase. But even as Afghan administrators took over the keys, the US had remained in charge of foreign prisoners.

In 2001, about 30,000 foreign soldiers and civilians were housed at the former Soviet base, but the number has been falling and will be cut to 6,000 US troops next year.

By the end of 2016, the only US military presence in Afghanistan will be at the embassy in Kabul as President Barack Obama winds down the US combat presence in the country.

For Pakistan, a concern has been its citizens held at the prison and their status as Afghan authorities take control of Bagram. Nine Pakistani prisoners were sent home in August. And US troops in Afghanistan said on Sunday they had handed over another three Pakistani detainees to Islamabad.

A Pakistani security official said one of them was Latif Mehsud, a close aide to the former chief of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hakimullah Mehsud.

NATO's combat mission will end on December 31 although some troops will remain to support the Afghan army and police, who have taken on responsibility for suppressing worsening violence nationwide.