Freed Taliban prisoners could return to battlefield: AIHRC

Concerned about the release of thousands of Taliban prisoners, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) says that there is no guarantee that these fighters would not return to the battlefield.

Thousands of Taliban prisoners, when released, put their finger on a document and sign it so that they would not return to the battlefield again. However, this guarantee is not enough for the Afghan Human Rights Commission. The head of the commission considers the guarantees obtained from these prisoners to be very weak.

“There is no guarantee that these prisoners will not return to the battlefield,” said Shahzad Akbar, head of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.

But the distance from prison to the battlefield is seen to have been short for Taliban detainees.

 According to security officials, Qari Rohullah, one of the released Taliban prisoners who had returned to war after his release from prison, was wounded in a clash with security forces on the Kabul-Jalalabad highway, with more than a dozen of his subordinates being killed.

“Qari Rohullah was the one who was recently released from our prison,” said Ghulam Haidar Rahmanzai, Laghman’s national security chief.

But a Taliban spokesman called the reports of the return of those released on the battlefield baseless and an excuse for the release of the remaining prisoners of the group.

“This is the reason why the security forces do not believe in the release of the Taliban prisoners,” said Manzour Stanekzai, Laghman’s security commander.

The release of five thousand Taliban prisoners is one of the main conditions for the start of negotiations between the Afghans. Human rights organizations have called the release of these Taliban fighters without strong guarantees, dangerous. But the Taliban have repeatedly insisted on their commitment to the peace deal with the United States.