Afghan men stand next to a billboard welcoming the two former prisoners held at the US detention center in Guantanamo Bay, before their arrival at the Kabul airport in Kabul on Feb 12, 2024. (PHOTO / AFP)

KABUL - The last two Afghan prisoners who had been in the US-run Guantanamo prison for years were set free and returned to Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Monday, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported.

"Two Afghan prisoners formerly held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp have returned to Kabul, marking the completion of the release process for all detainees associated with the Islamic Emirate," the news agency said, without providing more details.

Following the invasion of US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan in late 2001, which led to the dismissal of the then Taliban-led Islamic Emirate, the US military arrested a large number of Afghans including Taliban members on the charge of cooperation with the al-Qaida terror network and shifted them to the Guantanamo jail.

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Former detainees included some serving ranking officials of the Afghan caretaker government.