The Afghan government announced today, Thursday, the release of a new batch of Taliban prisoners, who withdrew from negotiations in this regard, after it considered the release of those in batches "unacceptable." The number of those released today reached one hundred, in addition to a hundred released on Wednesday.
Earlier, National Security Council spokesman Javed Faisal wrote in a tweet on Twitter that the Afghan authorities "will release 100 Taliban prisoners today (Thursday) according to their health, age and the remainder of their sentences, as part of our efforts to bring peace and contain Covid-19."
On Wednesday, Kabul released 100 detainees, "I swear by never returning to the battlefield," according to the government agency itself.
The Taliban rejected the government move to release a limited number of the movement's prisoners, and considered that it did not obligate them.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the mechanism for releasing detainees from both sides is clear, and stipulates the release of 5,000 detainees before the start of the Afghan negotiations.
Mujahid added in a statement that the United States is obligated to keep the promises and start the process of releasing the detainees and completing them without delay or interruption in order to start the Afghan negotiations, which is the primary goal, and represents a major step towards peace in Afghanistan.
Mujahid accused the Afghan government of obstructing the release of the detainees, and confirmed that it had agreed to the text of the agreement prior to signing it between the United States and the Taliban, and that it knew that the movement had conditioned the start of negotiations to release the detainees.
The spokesman added that imposing new conditions prior to the start of the Afghan negotiations means the continuation of the war in Afghanistan, and holding the party that obstructs the political process and is trying to thwart it.
Washington and the Taliban in Doha on February 29 signed an agreement paving the way, according to a timetable, for the gradual withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
A Taliban delegation had arrived late last month in Doha, carrying with him the names of detainees the movement is calling for their release as part of the confidence-building measures.
The Afghan government is supposed to release at the first stage the 1,500 detainees it has, and the Al-Jazeera correspondent recently said that the priority will be for the elderly, the sick, and those whose sentences are nearing the end.
In addition to the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan within 14 months, the peace agreement concluded in Doha between the United States and the Taliban provided for the exchange of detainees between the Afghan government and the Taliban, as a precursor to direct talks between them.
According to the agreement, the Afghan government is supposed to release five thousand Taliban militants, and that the movement in return release about a thousand government forces held by it.