Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said on Wednesday that at least 100 members of the movement will be released soon, as a first step to exchange six thousand prisoners held by the Afghan government and the movement, after yesterday and today’s talks, it is the first of its kind in the Afghan capital between a delegation of Taliban and Afghan officials.
Mujahid added in a Twitter account that consultations are ongoing on the technical aspects of the release of prisoners, and to provide a medical examination for the Corona virus for the released. A Taliban spokesman pointed out that the country's general isolation measures due to the Coruna outbreak increase the challenges of the release process.
According to the same source, a delegation consisting of three members of the movement, met today with representatives of the Afghan government to identify the Taliban detainees in Afghan prisons only, and the delegation will not engage in any political discussions, adding that the Qatari embassy in Kabul is hosting the delegation, and that the International Red Cross is participating in Meeting to take the necessary steps in the future.
Faisal's statement
On the other hand, the spokesman for the Afghan National Security Council, Javed Faisal, announced that government representatives and the Taliban delegation had held yesterday, Tuesday, discussions on the release of detainees from both sides, and they agreed to continue the talks today.
The Afghan government requires that those released from the Taliban pledge not to return to the battlefield, which is rejected by the movement that controls a large area of Afghan territory.
This is the first stage in which the Taliban movement is invited to Kabul to hold a direct meeting with Afghan government officials, since the American forces overthrew the Taliban regime during the American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Washington and the Taliban signed in the Qatari capital, Doha, on February 29, a peace agreement that paves the way - according to a timetable - for the gradual withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, in exchange for the Taliban’s commitment not to allow the use of Afghan territory to attack the interests of Washington and the interests of its allies.
The Doha agreement provides for the release of about 5,000 Taliban prisoners, compared to about 1,000 prisoners from the Afghan army and security personnel.
The prisoner exchange was supposed to take place by March 10, the date when political talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government were to begin, but internal political differences in Kabul postponed the prisoners' release.