Twenty detainees were released from US detention facilities in Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday as part of the Afghan government's strengthening peace program, US military said.

The detainees were given a medical examination and their personal effects and transferred from the coalition custody in Bagram Airfield to the Afghan government.

They were transported to the PTS (President of the Transitional State) commission office in Kabul to be registered in the program and allowed to return home under the supervision of tribal elders, it said.

A total of 199 detainees have agreed to participate in the program. The first group of 57 were released on July 2 and 76 were released July 9. The rest of the participants will be released in the near future, it added.

In the efforts to end Taliban-led militancy and stabilize security in the war-torn nation, Afghan President Hamid karzai has announced amnesty for all armed opposition groups except Taliban' s chief Mullah Mohammad Omar and his close aids and commanders numbering 150.

To implement the agenda, the president constituted a committee under the lead of Mujadadi and authorized him to push ahead with the reconciliation policy.

Under the policy, over 200 suspected Taliban detainees have been released this year, while over 400 Afghans with the suspicion of having links with Taliban and al-Qaida are still in some 23 US detention centers in Afghanistan.

Source: Xinhua