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Khalilzad urges Afghan gov’t, Taliban to accelerate prisoner releases
The US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has welcomed the release of prisoners by the Afghan government and Taliban, urging the two sides to “accelerate” the process.
According to the US-Taliban deal which was signed on 29th February in Qatar, the Afghan government should release up to 5000 Taliban prisoners, in exchange; the group will free 1000 prisoners of the government.
“The release of prisoners is an important step in the peace process and the reduction of violence,” Khalilzad wrote on Twitter.
The US Envoy urged both the government and Taliban to accelerate prisoner releases so that to meet “targets specified in the US- Taliban agreement as soon as possible.”
“The potential for COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons poses a real threat and all the more reason to move urgently,” Khalilzad tweeted.
Meanwhile, Javid Faisal, a spokesman for the office of the National Security Council confirmed that so far the Afghan government has released 360 Taliban inmates, while the Taliban has released only 20 prisoners of the government.
“As per the decree, releases will continue across other prisons to free a total of 1,500 as part of our efforts to advance peace and fight COVID-19,” Faisal said.
The Taliban on Sunday released 20 government prisoners and handed them over to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) in southern Kandahar province.
The group’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the move was taken for a “goodwill”, not in exchange for their prisoners’ release, adding more would be released but it depends on the further movement of the Afghan government.
Iran executed four Afghan prisoners in Vakliabad Prison in Mashhad on Thursday morning, a human rights group reported.
Haalvsh said that the individuals had been arrested in 1398 over drug-related charges and then sentenced to death by the court.
This organization announced the names of the executed prisoners as Zaman Taheri, Salam Taheri, Gholam Qadir Samani and Ebrahim Noorzahi.
Zaman Taheri and Salam Taheri were brothers.
Iranian officials have not commented about the matter so far.
Two people were killed after roof of their house collapsed in southern Helmand province on Friday night, officials said.
Abdul Bari Rashid, head of information and culture in Helmand, told Ariana News that the incident occurred in Tajkan village of Gershak district due to heavy rain.
According to him, the dead include a woman and a child. A man was injured in the incident.
This comes as 10 people have died and six others have been injured as a result of the floods in Helmand province in the last one week.
Officials at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) say 7,000 incomplete projects of the World Bank are at risk of destruction in Afghanistan. They call on the World Bank to resume the work of these projects.
According to them, discussions have been held with the World Bank about these projects, but there has been no result yet.
“7,000 incomplete projects are being destroyed, and if the work is not started, these projects will be destroyed. We ask the World Bank to resume the work of these projects as soon as possible,” said Noorul Hadi Adel, the spokesperson of MRRD.
Meanwhile, members of the private sector also ask international institutions to resume their work in Afghanistan.
According to the officials of this sector, with the start of these projects, job opportunities will be provided for thousands of people in the country.
“These projects create employment for our people and the country will grow a lot,” said Mirwais Hajizadeh, a member of the private sector.
However, economic experts stated if the work of these projects does not start soon, they will be destroyed and the investments made in them will be wasted.
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Roof collapse kills two in Helmand
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