House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R., Calif.) is seeking the names of 72 detainees that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered released from prison, the Associated Press reports.
He requested the information from Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel but told reporters on Tuesday that the Pentagon has not yet given the information.
In a letter dated Jan. 10, the California Republican had asked that Hagel publicly release the names and any affiliation that any of the subjects might have had with any terrorist group.
"It is critical for the American people to know which dangerous detainees President Karzai intends to release and the threat they pose to the United States," McKeon wrote in the letter.
Army Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, a Defense Department spokesman, said the names cannot be publicly released because they are classified.
Karzai ordered the prisoner release last week. The 72 prisoners, along with 16 others whose cases have not yet been reviewed, are accused of killing or wounding 60 coalition forces and 57 Afghan forces.
