Prisoner releases delayed, Afghan gov’t sets condition

The National Security Council says that if the Taliban does not guarantee that the prisoners will not go back to fighting, none of them will be released adding that they can’t be let go under name of “peace” and return back to battlefields.

Sources close to the Taliban underline that the government’s plan of releasing prisoners will take four months which is an explicit violation of the US-Taliban deal.

The government, however, said that the release was stopped, and if it is not guaranteed that it will not return to the battlefield, none of them will be released.

Jawid Faisal, the NSC Spokesperson, said, “The Afghan government has prepared a mechanism to direct and seize opportunities for peace. Dealing with the given list and releasing the prisoners are parts of the mechanism as we don’t want them to return to the battlefield.”

On the other hand, the Taliban insist that unless the 5000 prisoners are released, they will not step into the Intra-Afghan talks with the Afghan government.

Jalaluddin Shinwari, the Taliban’s former attorney general, said, “The government has a plan on releasing the prisoners in four months. It will endanger the process.”

This comes as Islamabad wants both the US and the Taliban to honor the deal and help Afghans reach their demands through negotiations.

Pakistani FM Shah Mahmoud Quraishi called the Taliban “clever and smart” as he thinks that the Taliban are not only good fighters but also good negotiators.

Quraishi underlines that the Taliban understood the challenges before the negotiations, noting that the Taliban have control over 45% of Afghan territory for real and “truth be accepted”.

Some of the civil activists gathered in Kabul and expressed their opposition and concerns regarding the Taliban prisoner release.

Silay Ghafar, the spokesperson of the Afghan National Solidarity Party, said, “The Taliban have violated democracy in the last two decades. They have killed millions of Afghans. Releasing them means dishonoring the blood of martyrs.”

A group of 100 Taliban prisoners was supposed to be released Saturday – as per the US-Taliban agreement.