WASHINGTON — U.S. Army soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell, Ky., will replace Marines at a base in southern Afghanistan, a Pentagon spokesman said Sunday.

        The Marines will hand over responsibility for overseeing a group of suspected Taliban and al-Qaida detainees that grew to 139 on Sunday at the Kandahar base.

        Their replacement will give the Marines “the opportunity to prepare for future missions,” said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Humm. He said he could not say when the transfer would be complete. Defense officials have said preparations for the change began Friday.

        The 101st Airborne Division is based at Fort Campbell, which straddles the Tennessee-Kentucky border.

        Maj. Gen. Richard Cody, the commanding general at Fort Campbell, said the soldiers, part of the 187th Infantry, were preparing for deployment, expected some time in January. He would not say how many soldiers would be deployed.

        “Every day the 101st is prepared to deploy within 36 hours,” Gen. Cody said. “They're always ready. This is something we've been preparing for.”

        The Army soldiers will continue “combat operations” to defeat remaining Taliban and al-Qaida fighters and help guard and process detainees being held at the Kandahar base, Lt. Col. Humm said.

        Fourteen new prisoners have arrived at the base, Lt. Col. Humm said Sunday. The new detainees came from the northern Afghan town of Shibergan, where U.S. forces are sorting through scores of suspected Taliban or al-Qaida forces captured by Afghan forces.

        The United States is taking those who officials believe might have useful information about Osama bin Laden's terrorist network or could be charged with terrorism or war crimes.

        U.S. forces have been moving batches of detainees from Shibergan to Kandahar since Friday.

        The prisoners will be questioned further at the southern Afghanistan base by interrogators from the U.S. military, the FBI and the CIA.

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