U.S. forces capture Taliban, al-Qaida figures

U.S. forces have taken custody of three more prisoners believed to be high-level Taliban or al-Qaida figures, and were working Thursday to hunt down others, the Associated Press reported.

Three captives were moved to the USS Peleliu in the Arabian Sea, bringing to 23 the number of fighters or leaders from the Afghan war now in U.S. hands, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.

Asked if they were senior figures, the spokeswoman said officials do not have "hard descriptions of who they are."

Pentagon officials have said previously that prisoners have been trying to conceal their identities during interrogations aimed at determining if they might have useful intelligence or should be held for punishment. A senior defense official said on condition of anonymity that the three are believed to be important figures wanted by the U.S. government.

The Marines also are holding 15 prisoners at a newly built jail at the Kandahar airport in southern Afghanistan. Pakistan has detained a "few hundred" more who have fled from Afghanistan's Tora Bora region this week, the spokeswoman said.