A Pentagon spokesman confirmed the report in The New York Times' Saturday edition.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Wright said the planned 24-hectar complex at the Bagram military base would offer more room for vocational, educational and religious training.

The current prison at Bagram holds about 630 prisoners. The new prison would hold about 1,100 detainees and cost $60 million, the New York Times reported.

"Our existing internment facility is deteriorating… There is a sense that this is the right time to build a new facility," said Sandra L. Hodgkinson, a senior Pentagon official.


Agencies