Monitoring Desk
KABUL: Gulbadin Hekmatyar-led Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) on Thursday said 90 HIA prisoners would be released soon from the Bagram and Pul-i-Charkhi prisons. Releasing HIA prisoners was part of a landmark peace deal between the government and the HIA signed in September.
Fazel Ghani Haqmal, HIA spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News the government had provided a list of 90 inmates to the HIA judicial commission, who would be freed within few days.
“We thank President Ashraf Ghani for discussing the topic of HIA prisoners during a high-level meeting at the Presidential Palace”, he said. He said HIA Amir Gulbadin Hekmatyar had been striving to make sure all HIA prisoners were released.
The HIA previously accused the government of delaying tactics in the release of its prisoners and not fully implementing the peace agreement. Abdul Hai Faqiri, head of the HIA Judicial Commission, assured some HIA prisoners would be freed soon and reunited with their families.
This he told prisoners while distributing winter clothes to them. Faqiri said some circles within and outside of the government had been trying to prevent the HIA-government peace deal from being fully enforced, thus delaying the release of prisoners.
President Ghani took the decision of releasing some HIA prisoners in a high-level meeting at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday.
The government had in May this year released 55 HIA prisoners under the peace agreement.
