Afghanistan to release up to 2,000 Taliban prisoners after ceasefire declaration

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, on May 24, began a process to release nearly 2,000 Taliban prisoners as a “goodwill gesture" after the militant organisations proposed a three days ceasefire as the Islamic holy month of fasting comes to an end. In addendum, Ghani also said that the Afghan government was ready to hold peace talks with the Taliban. Announcing the decision on Twitter, Ghani's spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi wrote that the government of the county was taking steps to ensure the success of the peace process. 

US-Taliban deal on standstill 

This announcement comes just a day after Ghani, in his Eid al-Fitr message announced that he would “expedite” the release of Taliban prisoners as taking another step forward towards a truce with the insurgent group by “responsible government”. The release of prisoners of the group held by the Afghan government, which was also mentioned in the US-Taliban peace deal as ‘confidence-building measure’, has been at a standstill over a disagreement. The Taliban has demanded at least 5,000 prisoners to be freed at one go in exchange for 1,000 Afghan security officials detained by the extremist group. 

Read: UN: Civilian Deaths By Taliban And Afghan Forces On The Rise

Read: Afghan President Pledges To 'expedite' Release Of Taliban Prisoners Amid Eid Ceasefire

This is only the second time that both sides have agreed to not carry out any attacks and maintain a temporary truce since 2001. The United States peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad reportedly had travelled to Kabul and Doha just days before the three-day ceasefire was announced. He has welcomed the declaration as “momentous opportunity”. Earlier, Khalilzad reportedly had urged both the Taliban and Afghanistan government to refrain from violence and move ahead with the peace negotiations.

According to an international news agency, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s main intelligence and security office in Kabul Javid Faisal said on May 23 that at least 146 civilians have been killed during Ramadan and 430 were injured as Taliban ramped-up its attacks. Moreover, since the United States invaded the ongoing conflict in 2001, there has only been one other ceasefire announcement in 2018 between Taliban and Afghan government for the religious festival, Eid.

Read: Taliban, Afghan Govt Declare 3-day Ceasefire For Eid; US Peace Envoy Calls It 'momentous'

Read: Afghan Taliban Leader Says Committed To Deal With US

(Image credits: AP)