US hands Bagram prison to Afghans

The US military has handed control of a controversial prison housing more than 3,000 Taliban fighters and terrorism suspects to the Afghan authorities.

In a small ceremony, Afghan officials said inmates had been transferred to their authority.

The move is part of a deal to transfer all Afghan prisons back to local control ahead of the withdrawal of Nato forces at the end of 2014.

Hekmat Karzai, director of centre for Conflict and Peace Studies, said the transfer was a positive step but there were many obstacles that still needed to be addressed.