A 100-cell maximum-security prison called Camp 5 has been shut down at Guantanamo Bay as the force patrolling the U.S. Navy base will also shrink by 400, according to a report from the Miami Herald.
“We’re now down to 61 detainees and we have consolidated our detainee population from Camp 5 into Camp 6,” Navy Capt. John Filostrat, the prison’s spokesperson, told reporters Wednesday. “The rest are in Camp 7 and in the coming months we’ll reduce by three Military Police companies and about a dozen medical personnel.”
READ MORE: United States frees 9 Guantanamo prisoners, sends them to Saudi Arabia
Filostrat said Camp 5, which was built by Haliburton 2003 and 2004 at a cost of US $17 million, is now being converted into a medical facility.
WATCH: Donald Trump says he’s keeping Guantanamo Bay open and will fill it up with ‘bad dudes’
Camp 5 was also one of the detention centres in Guantanamo Bay where Canadian detainee Omar Khadr was held after being captured in Afghanistan in 2002 at the age of 15.
He was transferred to Canada to serve out his sentence in 2012 and has been on bail in Alberta for a year pending the outcome of his U.S. appeal of his war crimes convictions.
READ MORE: Omar Khadr engaged to Edmonton human rights activist
There are still 46 prisoners at Camp 6, which is a medium-security prison.
Camp 7, the exact location of which remains a secret, still holds 15 former CIA captives, including the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks and his accused accomplices.
The U.S. will mark the 15th anniversary of the attacks Sunday.
With a file from The Canadian Press
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