Afghan authorities have begun releasing 400 Taliban prisoners, the latest obstacle in protracted peace talks between the two warring factions, even as President Ashraf Ghani warned they were a “danger to the world”.
A group of 80 detainees was released Thursday, National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said, tweeting that it would “accelerate efforts for immediate talks and a lasting, national ceasefire.”
The release of the 400 prisoners was approved over the weekend after a three-day Loya Jirga, a traditional Afghan gathering of tribal elders and other stakeholders, was held to decide on key issues.
The release of prisoners is part of the US-Taliban agreement signed in February, which saw Washington agree to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for an armed group pledge to hold peace talks with the Afghan government. hold.
The Trump administration is putting pressure on President Ghani’s government, which was not part of the pact signed in the Qatari capital Doha, to free Taliban prisoners as they approach US elections. Withdrawal of troops was one of Trump’s promises in the 2016 election.
A group of 80 prisoners was released on Thursday, National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said [Anadolu]
Widespread condemnation
Many of the residents are accused of serious crimes, with more than 150 of them on the death row, according to an official list seen by the AFP news agency.
The prisoners also include some 44 hunters who are of interest to the United States and other countries for their role in “high profile” attacks.
The Afghan government and the Taliban will meet within days of the release of the prisoners, in a movement that has received widespread condemnation after it emerged that many of the residents were involved in attacks that score of Afghans and foreigners killed.
The fate of the prisoners was a crucial obstacle in starting peace talks between the two sides. The Afghan government has released almost all of the Taliban prisoners on the list, but authorities have released them over the release of the final 400.
‘Danger to the world’
Ghani warned on Thursday that the hardened criminals “are likely to pose a danger to both us and to (America) and the world”.
“Until this issue, there was a consensus on the desirability of peace, but not on its cost,” Ghani said in a video conference organized by an American think tank.
“We have now paid for the important installation for costs and that means peace will have consequences,” he added.
The February agreement stipulated that Kabul would release 5,000 fighters in exchange for 1,000 Afghan government detainees held by the Taliban.
The Loyal Jirga, while approving the release of the final 400 Taliban prisoners, asked authorities to check on the released prisoners to make sure they did not return to the battlefield.
No date has been set, but negotiations between Kabul’s political leadership and the Taliban are likely to be held in Qatar, where the Taliban maintains a political office.
Ahead of the Loyal Jirga, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had called for the meeting to release the prisoners, although he acknowledged that the move was “unpopular”.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said earlier this week that he had lobbied for a former Afghan army soldier, who went rough and killed three Australian colleagues, to stay in prison.
The Taliban has meanwhile warned of possible attacks on the released prisoners by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group in coordination with the Afghan spy agency.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
.
