NSC: Majority of the released prisoners by the Taliban are civilians

Afghanistan National Security Council says that among the 60 released prisoners by the Taliban, only 19 of them are servicemen.

According to the NSC’s spokesperson, the Taliban have not released the prisoners as per the list provided by the Afghan government.

According to the NSC, based on the president’s decree 1,500 Taliban prisoners will be released to facilitate the Intra-Afghan negotiations; however, the Taliban has said that they have released the prisoners as a matter of goodwill. 

The Taliban, in exchange for their 360 prisoners, has released 60 prisoners saying that the released are Afghan government servicemen.

The National Security Council, however, describes the released as follows:

– Among the 20 released prisoners in Kandahar, 10 are militants and the other 10 are civilians, including four under 18s.

– Of the 40 released prisoners in Laghman, 12 are local policemen who had surrendered to the Taliban, and the remaining 28 had been kidnapped from highways – including 6 ex-troopers, 3 ministry of agriculture employees, 10 civilian, and 9 militants.

Also, the National Security Council says that the Taliban had treated the prisoners against human rights.

Even though a number of prisoners have been released by both the Taliban and the Afghan government, as confidence-building measures for Intra-Afghan negotiations, they do not seem happy with the performance.