[JURIST] Seventeen Afghan men held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] arrived in Afghanistan Tuesday and were being turned over to local officials, the Defense Department announced [DOD news release]. The 17 Afghans and one detainee from Turkey all had their enemy combatant status lifted by Combatant Status Review Tribunals [DOD backgrounder] which concluded they had been improperly classified. A senior Afghan official said that the 17 former detainees were being handed over to the Afghan National Security Council, but it was not clear whether any would be charged with any crimes. The US released 81 Afghans held at military bases in the country in January, and Afghan Supreme Court Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari said that the government was pressuring the US to release other Afghans held by the US. AP has more.