US sends 5 Guantanamo prisoners to Kazakhstan for resettlement

WASHINGTON - Three Yemenis and two Tunisians held for more than a decade at the US military prison at Guantanamo have been flown to Kazakhstan for resettlement, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, the latest in a flurry of prisoner transfers aimed at closing the facility.

The transfer of the five men followed a recent pledge by President Barack Obama for a stepped-up push to shut the internationally condemned detention center where most prisoners have been held without being charged or tried.

The United States moved a total of 28 prisoners out of Guantanamo this year - the largest number since 2009 - and a senior US official said further transfers are expected in coming weeks. The inmate population there has now been whittled down to 127.