Hamidullah Muhammad Shah-Kabul
The Afghan government announced its intention to release three Taliban detainees, including the younger brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network and the deputy leader of the Taliban, Hafiz Abdul Rashid, brother of Mohammad Nabi Omari, a member of the Taliban's political bureau, and Mali Khan Sirajuddin Haqqani.
Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said he would release the prisoners - including Anas Haqqani - from Bagram prison, stressing that the decision "was difficult but important," because it paves the way for direct negotiations between the government and the Taliban, as he put it.
In return, the Taliban will release two Western professors working at the American University in Kabul, kidnapped in August 2016.
The deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban was mediated by the United States, where the US envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad signed an agreement to release detainees from Bagram prison, while the Taliban vowed to start direct negotiations with the Afghan government.
This is not the first time the Afghan government has concluded a prisoner exchange deal with the Taliban. In 2007, the militants kidnapped Italian journalist Mastro Giacomo in the southern province of Helmand, and after a period in which he was released in exchange for the government's release of five members of the movement, including Its first official spokesman Mufti Hakimi.
In the same year, Taliban militants in Ghazni province abducted 25 Korean supporters from Kandahar province for the capital. The Taliban demanded the release of all Korean troops from Afghanistan and a ransom.
In 2019, Taliban militants kidnapped three Indian engineers working for the Afghan government on dam construction projects, and three months later released them in exchange for the release of 11 members of the group, including the governors of Nuristan and Farah provinces.
Who is Anas Haqqani?
Anas Haqqani is the youngest son of the founder of the Haqqani Network, the brother of the first deputy leader of the Taliban, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and was arrested by US intelligence in Bahrain in 2014 and later handed over to the Afghan government.
Government sources say that Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has decided to release him conditionally to start direct negotiations between his government and the Taliban, and reduce violence in the country.
Islamic movement expert Wahid Mizdah says the deal was made between the United States and the Taliban, and the Afghan government is not involved because US intelligence arrested Anas Haqqani at Bahrain airport and detained him in Bagram prison for further investigation due to his proximity to the Haqqani network leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani.
When the United States confirmed that he did not have enough information about the network and its leader handed him over to the Afghan government.
Mazda believes that the release of Anas Haqqani came as a result of US consensus with the movement, and can not open the way to direct negotiations with the Afghan government, because the Taliban believes that the presence of US forces in Afghanistan is the main obstacle to reconciliation, and unless consensus on this point The movement has to sit with the Afghan government.
Writer and political analyst Inayet Kucker says the deal was part of the Taliban and Washington negotiations.After President Donald Trump's decision to halt negotiations, activating the deal could stagnate the waters between the two sides and be a good start to restart negotiations, at least between Washington and the Taliban.
Kaker believes that the Afghan president was able to use the deal as a pressure card on US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, and urged the Taliban to sit with the Afghan government.
It is noteworthy that the Taliban did not comment officially on the decision of the Afghan government to release three of its members, but sources in the Political Bureau described the move as "positive", and considered it "at least help in bringing the views."