Afghanistan to release senior Taliban prisoners in apparent swapAfghan President Ashraf Ghani said the prisoner release would 'pave the way' for unofficial talks with the Taliban. "We have decided to conditionally release three Taliban prisoners who... have been in Bagram prison in the custody of the Afghan government for some time," Ghani said in an announcement at the presidential palace. Ghani, flanked by his top security advisors, said the decision to release the three Taliban prisoners had been "very hard and necessary". In August 2016, gunmen wearing military uniforms kidnapped two professors of the American University of Afghanistan in the heart of Kabul. "It very clearly shows that Americans have decided that they want a resumption of talks with the Taliban."

Source: Standard Digital November 12, 2019 09:34 UTC