Taliban should stop killing Afghans: NSC

The National Security Council has called on the Taliban to reduce violence, saying that the group should not seek an agreement with a foreign country to stop the violence against people of Afghanistan.

The NSC has welcomed the release of prisoners by the Taliban and urges the group to reduce its attacks on civilians and Afghan forces. 

“The Taliban should not wait for an agreement with foreign countries to stop the killing of Afghans,” said Javed Faisal, a spokesman for the National Security Council. 

So far, the government has released 550 Taliban prisoners, a move forward the kick start of the intra-Afghan negotiations for ending the long-term conflict in the country.

In exchange, the group has released 112 prisoners of the Afghan government.

The National Security Council said that it would release the 950 remaining inmates of the Taliban in the upcoming days.

 But apparently, the Taliban still demands the release of several key members of the group. 

According to sources close to the Taliban, not releasing these key members made the Taliban increase the violence. 

Khalil Safi, Head of the Afghan Peace Center said: “The failure to release these prisoners has halt peace process and increased clashes.” 

Meanwhile, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said in a series of tweets: “civilians still suffer from IED blast, targeted assassinations, and other consequences of the ongoing war. To protect them all sides must act now to end the violence.” 

“Both the Taliban and the government need to accelerate efforts to release prisoners and lower violence, which is the fastest means to intra-Afghan negotiations and a comprehensive permanent ceasefire,” Khalilzad added. 

Meanwhile, Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban commander said: “Trust should be earned, and talks about ceasefire should be done in the intra-Afghan talks.” 

Although 5,000 Taliban prisoners were to be released in exchange for 1,000 Afghan prisoners in ten days after the signing of the US-Taliban peace agreement. However, the process is progressing slowly and there is no sign of negotiations between Afghans.