The Obama Administration has moved one step closer to its goal of closing Guantanamo Bay for good by transferring five more Yemeni prisoners overseas to the countries of Oman and Estonia.

The Department of Defense announced late Wednesday that the U.S. government released five prisoners who spent over 12 years imprisoned at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, reports USA Today.

Al Khadr Abdallah Muhammad Al Yafi, Fadel Hussein Saleh Hentif, Abd Al-Rahman Abdullah Au Shabati and Mohammed Ahmed Salam were handed over to officials in Oman, while Akhmed Abdul Qadir was transferred to Estonia, which is next to Yemen.

As a result, the number of remaining prisoners at the detention center is now down to 122.

"The United States is grateful to the government of Oman for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility," reads a statement issued by the Pentagon, according to NBC News. "The United States coordinated with the government of Oman to ensure these transfers took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures."

All five men were captured in Pakistan and detained by the U.S. after being suspected of fighting with al-Qaeda. A task force consisting of six departments and agencies determined it was no longer necessary to detain them and "unanimously approved" the moves, the Pentagon said. However, the men could not be sent to Yemen due to the instability in the country.

This is the first time that either Oman or Estonia agreed to accept former Guantanamo prisoners for resettlement.

Earlier this month, the Defense Department announced that five other prisoners were moved out of Guantanamo Bay and sent to Kazakhstan for resettlement during an overnight transfer in late December. Two men from Tunisia and three from Yemen were released after being detained at the prison for more than a decade due to their suspected ties to al-Qaida. None of the men were ever charged with a crime, and a government task force decided it was not necessary to hold them any longer.

Since opening in 2002, Gitmo has held nearly 800 prisoners. Critics say locking up suspected terrorists without due process is unethical and defies Americans values.

President Obama has also pointed out the facility festers anti-U.S. jihadists around the world and costs taxpayers millions of dollars each year to operate.

Republicans, however, have objected to Obama's plan to transfer detainees out of Gitmo since many return to the battlefield to fight against the U.S. and its allies.

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