WASHINGTON - The US continued to work with Afghanistan on the transfer of a key detention centre and its detainees at the Bagram Airfield north of Kabul to the Afghans, the White House (WH) said on Monday.

The US military two days ago delayed the transfer ahead of a planned handover ceremony, but provided no reason for the move.

Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his daily news conference that the US continued to work out the details on the transfer of the facility, a sprawling detention centre 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Kabul in central Parwan province.

“We remain committed to the full transfer and all Afghan detainees to the government of Afghanistan. We respect Afghan sovereignty and intend to proceed with the transfer once we have reached full agreement,” Carney said in response to a question.

The US, he said, was working on the issue of release of prisoners with the Afghan government. “We are winding down that war, as the president promised. We are withdrawing US forces as the President promised. We are training Afghan security forces precisely because that enables Afghan security forces to take security lead over from US forces. And we have made significant progress towards that goal,” he said.

“We are in Afghanistan, we went to Afghanistan, and we are there now because of Al Qaida, because Al Qaida took up safe haven in Afghanistan and attacked the United States from Afghanistan. And that effort continues, and there has been significant progress in decimating Al Qaida central in Afghanistan,” Carney said. (Pajhwok)