Afghan govt, Taliban free more prisoners

The Afghan government on Sunday released the third batch of 100 Taliban prisoners while the Taliban said they will free 20 prisoners of the Kabul administration today.

The prisoners will be handed over to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Kandahar, the Islamic Emirates Afghanistan spokesperson said. 

The Taliban spokesperson in a tweet said, “Today, 20 prisoners of the Kabul Administration will be released by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and handed over to ICRC in Kandahar.”

Today, 20 prisoners of the Kabul Administration will be released by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and handed over to ICRC in Kandahar.

— Suhail Shaheen. محمد سهیل شاهین (@suhailshaheen1) April 12, 2020

The Taliban confirmation came as the third group of 100 Taliban prisoners was released on President Ghani's order, the Afghan National Security Council confirmed on Sunday.

The Afghan government started the process on Wednesday by releasing 100 prisoners, followed by another 100 inmates on Thursday, followed by the third group announced on Sunday.

The government has vowed to release 1,500 Taliban prisoners to move the peace process forward.

Based on the US-Taliban peace agreement, 5,000 prisoners of the group should be released by the Afghan government, and 1,000 prisoners should be released by the Taliban, to begin intra-Afghan negotiations.

On Friday, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said “unidentified” prisoners were released by the Afghan government after a Taliban delegation – tasked with coordinating with Afghan authorities – had already left Kabul after meetings with the government team had ended without results.

On Friday evening, Gen Austin S Miller, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, had a meeting with the Taliban leadership in Doha.