The U.S. released five men who have been detained at Guantanamo Bay for a dozen years without trial, transferring them to Kazakhstan for resettlement.

The transfer, which follows releases to Afghanistan and Uruguay earlier this month, leaves the total number of prisoners still held at Gitmo at 127, according to officials. Two of the newly released men were from Tunisia and three were from Yemen; all five were captured in Pakistan on suspected ties to al-Qaeda, but none were ever charged with a crime.

According to the Associated Press, the Pentagon's statement does not mention why the men couldn't be sent to their home countries. The Wall Street Journal notes that the U.S. banned the transfer of prisoners to Yemen in 2009 after a Nigerian man used a bomb made by Yemeni militants in an attempt to attack an airliner.

In 2007, a court ordered the government not to transfer Mohammed Abdul Rahman, one of the Tunisians, back to his home country over fear that he would be tortured.

Twenty-eight prisoners have been released from Guantanamo Bay in 2014, and according to the Pentagon's statement, it will release more soon.

[Image via AP]