U.S. moves prisoners across Afghanistan

SHIBERGAN, Afghanistan -- American forces transferred a batch of war prisoners Saturday from northern Afghanistan to a detention facility at a Marine base where suspected al-Qaida and Taliban fighters face interrogation -- and possible imprisonment in Cuba afterward.

"We're taking them out of here, and taking them down to Kandahar as quickly as we can," said Maj. Joseph Fenty, commander of the forces conducting the operation at an overcrowded jail in Shibergan. "We're primarily looking at detainees that we can use for collecting intelligence."

Military officials gave few details about the operation, which began Friday and involved dozens of American troops in bulletproof vests and armed with assault rifles.

At 3:30 p.m. Saturday, a convoy of about six vehicles, including two closed trucks, emerged from the prison and headed toward the nearby airport. It was unclear how many prisoners were being transported, but they reportedly included injured inmates taken from the prison's hospital ward.

Earlier, 63 suspected Taliban or al-Qaida members arrived at Kandahar airport, bringing the total of detainees at the Marine base's makeshift holding facility there to 124, a Marine spokesman said. The new arrivals came from undisclosed locations across the country and did not include the prisoners leaving northern Afghanistan.

Prisoners increasing

The number of inmates at Kandahar -- which has room for at least 250 -- has risen steadily this week, and the Pentagon expected dozens more in coming days, a Washington defense official said Friday on condition of anonymity. American officials have said an undisclosed number of prisoners will be sent to the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba.

Eight more prisoners, including American John Walker Lindh, were being held on the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu in the Arabian Sea.

The prisoners could be candidates for a U.S. military tribunal, which President Bush has authorized to judge and sentence terrorists who are not American citizens.

U.S. officials in Shibergan said they would take Afghans and foreigners to Kandahar if necessary, Fenty said. He said servicemen were searching prisoners, doing medical tests and making initial intelligence screenings.

"We feel we have an adequate-sized force here to protect ourselves as well as the detainees," Fenty said. The Shibergan prison currently holds 3,000 prisoners, 900 of them foreigners.

Inside, International Committee of the Red Cross members delivered equipment for a water well.

"We're going to treat these detainees humanely. We're going to provide for their safety," said military spokesman Capt. Robert Riggle.

In other developments:

Pakistan police seized arms and ammunition in an abandoned house in Quetta that were believed to have been smuggled from Afghanistan for possible terrorist acts, local police chief Shoaib Suddle said. The cache -- 124 machine guns, 248 rifles, 342 mortar bombs and 30,000 rounds of ammunition -- was the largest ever in Pakistan. Two suspects were arrested.

The Pentagon confirmed a U.S. military strike in Afghanistan early Saturday on a "building used by the Taliban." The Afghan Islamic Press reported the strike occurred in Shekhan, a village in Paktia province.

Pakistani intelligence officers and FBI agents were interrogating more than 200 suspected members of al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization.

Bahrain became the second Arab country, following Jordan, to contribute troops to peacekeeping efforts in Afghanistan. Bahrain sent its only frigate, a gift from the U.S. Navy, to an international naval coalition in the Arabian Sea. An American ally, Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet.