WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Dozens of suspected terrorists released by the United States from Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , are believed to have returned to terrorism activities , according to the Pentagon . Pentagon officials say 61 former Gitmo detainees have committed or are suspected of returning to terrorism . Since 2002 , 61 former detainees have committed or are suspected to have committed attacks after being released from the detention camp , Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said at a briefing Tuesday . The number is up since the Pentagon 's last report in March 2008 when officials said 37 former detainees had been suspected of returning to the battlefield since 2002 . Since 2007 , more than 100 detainees were released , significantly more than in previous years , according to Pentagon officials . According to the statistics , of the 61 former detainees that are believed to have returned to fighting , 18 have been officially confirmed while 43 are suspected , Morrell said . The 18 were confirmed through intelligence , photographs , fingerprints and other information , Morrell said . Of the 43 other detainees suspected of taking part in terrorist attacks , only `` plausible reporting '' on their activities indicated some kind of involvement , according to Morrell . Officials would only identify one of the confirmed attackers , Adballah Salih al-Ajmi , a Kuwaiti man released from U.S. custody at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in 2005 . Pentagon officials said Salih al-Ajmi blew himself up in a suicide attack in Iraq in April 2008 . Since 2002 , the Pentagon has released about 520 detainees to their home countries or counties that agreed to take them . Some have been released in full by those countries while others are still being held . `` There , clearly , are people who are being held at Guantanamo who are still bent on doing harm to America , Americans and our allies , so there will have to be some solution for the likes of them , '' Morrell said . About 250 detainees remain held at Guantanamo and about 60 of those detainees have been cleared for release by the Pentagon , but their home countries will not take them or the U.S. believes they could be harmed by their governments if returned . President-elect Barack Obama has said he intends to shut down Guantanamo . Earlier this week , two sources close to the Obama transition team said he could issue an order to do so as early as his first week in office , saying that Obama believes `` the legal framework at Gitmo has failed to successfully and swiftly prosecute terrorists . ''
61 former Gitmo detainees still involved in terror acts , according to CNN . Since then , nearly 520 detainees have been released from detention facility . President - elect Barack Obama vowed to close down Guantanamo upon taking office .