Govt releases nearly all prisoners on Taliban list

KABUL (TOLOnews): Javid Faisal, the spokesman for the National Security Council (NSC) on Thursday confirmed the completion of the Taliban prisoner release except for a half dozen prisoners about which international partners have reservations.

The government received commandos held hostage by the Taliban after the government released the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners, except for the few about which allies have taken issue, said Faisal.

“Diplomatic efforts are ongoing. We expect direct talks to start promptly,” he said. In the meantime, sources close to the Taliban have confirmed the release of 5,000 prisoners except seven that the foreign countries urged the Afghan government to not release directly.

“These prisoners will be transferred to Qatar,” the sources said. These Taliban were singled-out for having allegedly committed serious crimes. On Wednesday, a government source said that up to 200 Taliban prisoners had been released in the past two days.

The Taliban has pledged that those released will not return to the battlefield.

Apparently, the Afghan government is still in talks with the Australian and French authorities about the release of seven high profile Taliban prisoners.

Sources in the government said that progress has been made in the talks between the Afghan government and French officials; however, Australia still has reservations about the release of several Taliban prisoners.