The Taliban announced that it would stop participating in talks it described as "sterile" with the Afghan government over the prisoner exchange, which was a key clause in the movement's agreement with the United States.
And Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen, in a tweet written in Pashtun language on Monday, blamed the administration of President Ashraf Ghani for delaying the release of prisoners "under one pretext or another."
"Therefore, our technical team will not participate in fruitful meetings with the relevant parties as of tomorrow," Shaheen said in a second tweet in English.
The two sides have been holding talks in the capital, Kabul, since last week to try to finalize the prisoner exchange that was supposed to take place on March 10.
Metin Beck - who is a member of the government negotiating team - noted that the release of prisoners was delayed because the Taliban demanded the release of 15 "senior leaders", adding to reporters the day before yesterday, Monday, "We cannot release the killers of our people."
He added, "We do not want them to return to the battlefield, and to control a whole state."
Beck emphasized that the government was ready to release up to 400 non-Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture in exchange for a "significant" reduction in violence, but the Taliban rejected the offer.
It is noteworthy that the movement and Washington signed an agreement in late February in the Qatari capital, Doha, stipulating that the Afghan government - which is not the signatory to the agreement - release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, and that the movement in turn will release 1,000 prisoners from the government.
Observers considered that the imbalance in the number of prisoners supposed to be released on both sides is in the interest of the Taliban.
In the agreement, Washington pledged to withdraw its forces and international forces from Afghanistan by next July, provided that the Taliban start peace talks with Kabul, and give other guarantees.