The government will “release 1,500 Taliban prisoners as a gesture of goodwill” starting Saturday, with another 3,500 to be freed after negotiations begin, Sediq Sediqqi said on Twitter. Although the Taliban were due to start talks with Kabul on Tuesday, negotiations were delayed because the insurgents’ demanded as a prerequisite the prisoner release in exchange for 1,000 captives. According to the decree, after the first 1,500 captives are freed, a further “500 Taliban prisoners will be released every two weeks” once negotiations begin. Under the US-Taliban deal, foreign forces will quit Afghanistan within 14 months, subject to Taliban security guarantees and the insurgents’ holding the talks with Kabul. There was no immediate reaction from the insurgents to Ghani’s decree on the prisoners, which followed a deepening political crisis in Kabul.

Source: The Express Tribune March 11, 2020 08:26 UTC