The United States said it has sent 12 more Guantanamo detainees home to Afghanistan, Yemen and a breakaway region of Somalia -- volatile nations where Al-Qaeda havens have fueled concern over such repatriations.

The transfers bring the total number of detainees at the "war on terror" prison to below 200, just days after the US government announced it will move many other inmates to a maximum-security prison in the state of Illinois.