In implementation of the provisions of the Doha agreement ... the Afghan government launches a new batch of Taliban detainees

Afghan National Security Council spokesman Javed Faisal announced the release of 98 Taliban detainees from the central prison.

The decision was made according to the decision of Afghan President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani to advance the reconciliation process with the Taliban and to combat preventing the spread of Corona virus in prisons, according to Faisal.

"The Afghan government has released 650 detainees so far and will soon release 850 others from its prisons," Faisal added.

The implementation of the exchange of detainees between the Afghan government and the Taliban movement comes in response to the terms of the peace agreement signed between the movement and the United States at the end of February in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Taliban releases
The Taliban released last Thursday a fourth batch of members of the government forces captured under the Doha Peace Agreement.

For his part, said Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban political office - in a tweet on Twitter - that the movement released 52 detainees from the government forces in Kunduz province (north of the country), which raises to 115 the number of released members of the security and government army.

The spokesman added that the Taliban are seeking to accelerate the release of prisoners from government forces to prevent the spread of the Corona virus between them.

Earlier this month, the movement released about sixty members of the government forces in three waves in the provinces of Laghman (east) and Kandahar (south).

The prisoner exchanges continue despite the fact that the entire peace process in Afghanistan remains fragile, in light of mutual accusations between the government and the Taliban, which recently rejected Kabul's call for a ceasefire.

It is noteworthy that the Taliban and the United States signed an agreement on February 29 in the Qatari capital, Doha, paving the way - according to a timetable - for the gradual withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in exchange for guarantees from the movement.

The agreement provides for the release of about five thousand Taliban prisoners, compared to about one thousand prisoners from the government forces, in a step that precedes any peace negotiations between the movement and the government.