KABUL: Two former prisoners held at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay until 2017 were welcomed home to Afghanistan on Monday, more than 20 years after they were arrested. They were among hundreds of suspected militants captured by US forces during the United States’s “War on Terror” and held in the secretive prison in Cuba.

Abdul Karim and Abdul Zahir landed in Kabul early on Monday from Oman, where they had been transferred in 2017 and held under house arrest, said Zahir’s son Mohammad Osman and airport staff. “With the grace of God and efforts by the leaders of the Islamic Emirate, he has returned to the country,” Osman said, referring to Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities. US authorities faced accusations of torture and abuse against prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay facility, where many were held without charge or the legal power to challenge their detention.

Most of the military prison’s inmates have been released over the years, including senior Taliban leaders.

“I am very happy. When I woke up in the morning, I felt like it was Eid for me,” Osman said. The returnees were whisked to a VIP area away from media and a jostling crowd of supporters, some clutching bouquets, who had gathered for their arrival.