January 12, 2002 Posted: 6:12 p.m. EST (2312 GMT)
(CNN) -- Twenty Afghan war detainees, the first of hundreds expected, are spending their first full day Saturday at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
They received medical exams and showers and were photographed, fingerprinted and interrogated before being led to individual outdoor cages at "Camp X-Ray," a temporary compound. The detainees will be kept there until a permanent detention center can be built. Some of them resisted U.S. military personnel Friday as they were taken off the plane.
Col. Terry Carrico described the detainees' treatment as "firm and fair." "We have positive control of these individuals," he said.
The 6-by-8 "cells" have a chain-link fence perimeter, a concrete floor and a wooden roof but are otherwise open to the elements. The military has sprayed the entire complex with anti-mosquito spray. The detainees will have a foam rubber sleeping mat and two towels -- one for bathing and another for a prayer mat, according to a military spokesman. They also will receive a bar of soap, a squeeze bottle of shampoo, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and flip-flop sandals for showers.
Three meals will be served to the detainees each day. Breakfast and dinner will be hot meals, with water as a beverage. They also will have access to cereal, raisins, peanuts and granola bars. Meanwhile, investigators have recovered five of seven bodies of U.S. Marines killed Wednesday when their KC-130 military refueling plane crashed in western Pakistan, military officials in Kandahar, Afghanistan, said Saturday. The recovery operation is ongoing, and the Marines said they are hopeful they will recover the remaining bodies.