ISLAMABAD: Thousands of militants will be released under a peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban, which has been finalized, Taliban officials said on Monday.
Taliban negotiator Abdul Salam Hanafi said in a video shared with reporters that in accordance with the agreement, the Afghan government will free 5,000 Taliban prisoners by March 10, while the Taliban will release some 1,000 people they have taken hostage.
Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Arab News the agreement will be signed in Qatar later this month.
According to Shaheen, all neighbors of Afghanistan, UN Security Council members, Islamic countries, European countries and those involved in the Afghan peace process will be invited to the signing ceremony as witnesses.
The Taliban and the US will issue separate statements that will mention the date of the ceremony, he said, adding that a week-long period of reduction in violence will start before the deal is signed.
A senior Taliban leader told Arab News last week that the agreement is expected to be inked on Feb. 29 and followed by the intra-Afghan dialogue starting on March 10.
No decision has yet been announced regarding the dialogue’s venue, but Germany and Norway have offered to host it.
US and Taliban negotiators finalized the peace deal in August. However, in early September, US President Donald Trump called off the talks, after a Taliban-claimed attack killed an American soldier and 10 other people in Kabul.
