The United States also believes there is a link between ETIM and al-Qaeda. The State Department said ETIM has received "training and funding" from al-Qaeda and has fought in the group's ranks against the U.S. troops during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. In August 2002, the Bush administration designated ETIM as a terrorist organization. That same year, U.S. officials captured twenty-two Uighurs from a camp in Afghanistan, and detained them at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on suspicion of being enemy combatants. They were ultimately cleared of terrorism charges and repatriated to Albania, Bermuda, Palau, Switzerland, and Pakistan.