Once released, where do the Taliban prisoners go?

The Taliban’s political office has said that because there had not been any successful agreement made, it would not take responsibility for the 200 prisoners released in the past 2 days from Bagram prison. Friday, however, did not see any releases, although the government has said it will continue.

The presidential palace says that the prisoners have been released after being guaranteed firmly that they will not return to the battlefields.

In addition, Arg accuses the Taliban of disloyalty and beating around the bush to skip over the peace process.

Latif Mahmood, the deputy presidential spokesperson, said, “We expect the Taliban not to break its promise or make further excuses. It shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity.”

On the other hand, some of the released prisoners hope for long-lasting peace in Afghanistan expressing that they have been sick of the war.

A released prisoner said, “We got wasted, but our children should not meet our fate.”

Another released prisoner said, “We have been released on the president’s verdict. We want peace.”

Now that the Taliban does not receive the released prisoners, where would they go?

Mohammad Alam Ezidyar, the senate’s first deputy, said, “There has been no guarantee that the prisoners will not return to war. Also, human rights violations should be observed.”

Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban leadership member, said, “The prisoners have not been released as per the list. The list contains prisoners with longer jail time.”

On the contrary, the government of Afghanistan says that the prisoners have been let go with strong guarantees and in accordance with the US-Taliban agreement.

The process of prisoner releases walked into the twist as soon as the Taliban demanded the release of 15 of its prominent members, followed by a denial from the government.

Moreover, the challenges derived from the prisoner releases have shelved the intra-Afghan talks to an unknown future.