Taliban says conditionally ready to start negotiations after Eid al-Adha

Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, said the group is ready to release the remaining government prisoners by Eid al-Adha, in case the government also releases the remaining 600 prisoners of the Taliban according to the list already shared with the government.

The Taliban are ready to start negotiations between Afghans immediately after Eid, provided the government releases the group’s 600 prisoners on a pre-arranged list.

Shaheen said in a tweet that the group is “ready to release all remaining prisoners of the #Afghan gov’t before the eve of Eid al-Adha provided they release our prisoners as per our list already delivered to them.”

However, the government says the Taliban must reduce violence to start peace talks.

The failure to release some 600 Taliban prisoners from government custody is a controversial issue, and the Independent Human Rights Commission has backed the decision.

“We call on the government to investigate the situation of 592 prisoners. Prisoners who violate human rights and civil rights should not be released at all,” said Zabihullah Farhang, spokesman for the Human Rights Commission.

Some experts say the government is challenging the peace talks by not releasing 600 Taliban prisoners.

“We urge the Afghan government and the US Special Representative for the Afghan peace to take a major action that can be taken to start inter-Afghan talks,” said Negina Yari, a member of the Afghanistan Peace House board.

“There is a good opportunity for negotiations and the demand for the release of their prisoners is a legitimate demand and the government must act,” said Shahzada Massoud, a political analyst.

But the NSC office said that although Taliban prisoners had promised not to return to the war after their release, a number of released prisoners are now fighting against security forces.