Haroon al-Afghani

Who is Haroon al-Afghani?

Haroon al-Afghani is an Afghan citizen currently held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.

Haroon al Afghan arrived at the Guantanamo detention camps on June 22, 2007, and has been held there for 6 years, 9 months and 7 days.

On June 22, 2007, the United States Department of Defense acknowledged transferring Haroon al-Afghani to Guantanamo.

The DoD claims that he is al al Qaida courier, and "There is significant information available that Haroon al-Afghani is a senior commander of Hezb-e-Islami/Gulbuddin."

According to DoD spokesman Bryan Whitman:

"He commanded multiple HiG terrorist cells, conducted IED attacks in Nangarhar province, and is assessed to have regular contact with senior Al-Qaeda and HiG leadership,"

"He may have additional information with respect to ongoing Al-Qaeda operations, and may have information that is useful to us in thwarting future attacks."

"Remember that Guantanamo serves a number of functions. One is its an intelligence center as well as a detention facility, and its a place where we have built the structure and capacity to try people for ... War crimes through the military commission process."