Ghani orders release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners

President Ashraf Ghani has signed a decree to release 1500 Taliban prisoners, a move to pave the way for the start of the intr-Afghan dialogue.

Sediq Sediqqi, the presidential spokesman said that all released prisoners will have to give “a written guarantee to not return to the battlefield.”

The prisoners will be released from the prison of Parwan province within 15 days, as 100 prisoners will walk out of the custody per day, Sediqqi said.

The rest of 3500 prisoners would be released – 500 prisoners every two weeks – after the direct talks with the militants take place and if the group pledge to reduce the violence, Sediqqi added.

The US and Taliban signed a deal on February 29 in Qatar, according to that, the Afghan government would release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners ahead of intra-Afghan talks, and in exchange, the militant group would release up to 1,000 Afghan government prisoners.

Meanwhile, the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Peace, Zalmay Khalilzad tweeted, ” I urge the two sides to sit down immediately for talks on this issue in Doha, Qatar to work out the details. The Afghan government has agreed to do so. When implemented, this will be a significant step in the peace process.”

Khalilzad calls on the Taliban group to fulfill its commitment to reduce violence in the country.

“Despite these signs of progress, violence by the Taliban remains too high. We expect the Taliban to adhere to its commitments to reduce violence in order to allow for the release of prisoners to be implemented smoothly and the peace process to succeed,” Khalilzad said.

It comes as the US Army has begun pulling out troops from Afghanistan as part of the agreement with the Taliban.