The al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has vowed that the militants at the Guantanamo Bay will be freed while denouncing the treatment given to hunger-striking inmates by the United States.
The Guardian reports that al-Zawahiri said in a recorded audio on an Islamist website that al-Qaeda will set free the jail inmates.
Al-Qaeda has also claimed responsibility for simultaneous raids on two Iraqi jails last week in which the group said more than 500 inmates were set free.
About 166 men, most of whom were rounded up in counter-terrorism operations after the 9/11 attacks, are being held at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay of Cuba, the report added.
Meanwhile, Zawahiri has also denounced Washington's use of drone strikes aimed at Islamists.