Afghan government releases another batch of Taliban prisoners to spur long-delayed peace talks

In this photograph released by Afghanistan's National Security Council (NSC), Taliban prisoners walk as they are in the process of being released from Pul-e-Charkhi prison on the outskirts of Kabul on Aug. 13, 2020. (Afghanistan's National Security Council (NSC) via AFP/File)

• President’s spokesman says work still underway to move the prisoner exchange process forward
• Stalled release of prisoners by both the Taliban and Kabul government has delayed key intra-Afghan talks

ISLAMABAD: A spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday the government had released yet “another batch” of Taliban prisoners, moving one step closer to fulfilling a key condition for the start of crucial intra-Afghan talks between the insurgents and the Kabul government.
The freed batch forms part of a group of 400 “hardcore” prisoners whose stalled release has delayed crucial talks between the government and the Taliban which could end 19 years of civil war.
“The Afghan government has released another batch of the remaining Taliban prisoners and the work is still underway to move the prisoner exchange process forward,” Sediq Sediqqi said on Twitter. “Exchange of the prisoners is a two-way process and the government is closely assessing each step at the process.”
He added: “We expect the Taliban to live up to their commitments on the release of the remaining [Afghan National Security and Defense Forces] ANSDF captives.”
A Taliban official told Arab News the group had also freed five Afghan commandos ahead of a Kabul government-mandated negotiation team flying on Thursday to Doha.
“Only five commandos have been freed, and one is sick,” the Taliban official said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media. “A formal announcement could be made by the Taliban spokesmen” after the Kabul administration releases all Taliban prisoners, he said, referring to the group of 400 prisoners Kabul has been reluctant to free.
“The issue of these commandos is directly looked after by the military commission of the Islamic Emirate [Afghan Taliban] and does not fall under the committee which is dealing with our other prisoners,” the Taliban official added.
The intra-Afghan talks should have begun in early March following a US-brokered deal signed in February in Doha to pave the way for a complete withdrawal of all foreign US-led troops from Afghanistan by next spring.
No date has been announced for the talks between the Taliban and the government yet, but earlier this week Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen hinted at the possibility of the a dialogue starting “within a week,” as soon as the prisoner exchange program was completed.