Trump, Qatari leader discuss Afghanistan, prisoner release

KABUL (TOLO News): The US President Donald Trump and Qatari leader Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani agreed in a phone call on Wednesday on the importance of the Taliban reducing violence in Afghanistan, the White House said in a statement.

The two leaders also agreed on the importance of continuing discussions on prisoner releases in Afghanistan, it said, adding that “The President thanked the Amir for his ongoing efforts to achieve peace in Afghanistan.”

The Afghan government has so far released 361 Taliban prisoners, but the Taliban has said these released detainees are “unidentified.”

The Taliban has also released 60 prisoners, but the government says only 19 of them are members of the security forces, and the rest are civilians.

One of the top 15 prisoners whose release was demanded by the Taliban, named Lailuddin, was identified by a senior government official as part of a network responsible for major attacks in Kabul, including the German embassy bombing, the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) attack, the attack of former MP Mir Wali and the bombing of the funeral ceremony of Izadyar’s son.

Lailuddin, son of Gulbuddin, is originally from Musahi district of Kabul province and was arrested in Kabul city, according to the source.

Documents seen by TOLOnews show that Lailuddin was trained in Quetta, Pakistan for two-and-a-half months before deploying to Logar and then Kabul.

Each of the attacks left scores of civilians dead and wounded, at a time when Kabul was witnessing almost one attack every day.

The release of the Taliban prisoners is part of the US-Taliban deal signed in Doha late in February. The Afghan government has so far agreed to release 1,500 Taliban prisoners, instead of the 5,000 prisoners mentioned in the agreement.

The prisoner release has posed a major obstacle to the already fraught peace process.