The Afghan Government will continue the release of Taliban prisoners to begin intra-Afghan negotiations and to help the announced reduction in violence go on, said the National Security Council on May 31, reports Tolo News. President Ashraf Ghani on May 24 pledged to release 2,000 Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture in response to the Eid ceasefire announced by the Taliban. So far, the Government has released 1,700 detainees of this latest pledged tranche, bringing the total number of Taliban released to 2,700. The release of prisoners is part of the US-Taliban agreement and is intended to pave the way for the start of the intra-Afghan negotiations, for which the Afghan government has shown a readiness to begin.
The Taliban has also released over 420 prisoners, 73 of them during the last few days from Balkh, Logar, Kunduz, Paktia, Paktika and Khost provinces. “The process will continue so that based on President Ghani’s decree, 2,000 prisoners are released,” said Javid Faisal, a spokesman for National Security Council.