Washington: The US is planning to build a new detention camp at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan for locking up more alleged extremists and terrorists, a Pentagon official has said.

"I can confirm there are indeed plans to build a new detention facility at Bagram airfield," local mass media quoted Lieutenant Colonel Mark Wright, a spokesman for the Defense Department, as reporting on Saturday.

The Bagram airfield has served as a main US military base near the Afghan Capital Kabul since the US-led war against the Taliban regime and Al Qaeda militants began in October 2001.

The future detention camp, designed to include educational, religious and recreational facilities, is expected to occupy 40 acres of land, according to the spokesman. Observers say the Pentagon's plan indicates that the US intends to keep its overseas detention facilities permanent.

Source : IANS