Afghanistan government releases 80 out of 400 remaining Taliban prisoners

In a bid to remove the last remaining obstacle to peace talks, the Afghan government has begun releasing the last 400 Taliban prisoners as per an agreement brokered by the United States. According to reports, with the release of this final batch of prisoners, peace talks between the Aghan government and the Taliban can begin as early as next week.

Important step towards peace

As per reports, August 20 has been suggested by several Afghan leaders as a possible start date for the peace talks. Previously, the Taliban had said they would sit down for peace talks in Qatar.

According to the agreement between the United States and the Taliban, the US would drastically reduce the number of troops it had in Afghanistan and the Afghan government would release 5,000 Taliban prisoners while the Taliban had agreed to release 1,000 Afghan soldiers and government officials.

Read: Afghanistan Signs Decree To Release 400 Taliban Prisoners To Initiate Peace Talks

Read: Taliban Says Ready To Start Peace Talks Within A Week Of Prisoners' Release

As per reports, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was not privy to the talks between the US and the Taliban, he had delayed the release of the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners claiming that that last batch contained several serious and vicious criminals that had been imprisoned for heinous crimes.

The decision to free the remaining batch of 400 Afghan prisoners was taken in Loya Jirga, a gathering of Afghan political elites that approved the release of the remaining prisoners in an effort to begin the peace talks. As of August 14, 80 of the remaining 400 prisoners have been released. It has not been made public when the rest of the prisoners will be freed.

At the time of the agreement between the United States and the Taliban, there were 13,000 US troops in Afghanistan and the US has kept up its end of the agreement and reduced its troop presence in the country to less than 5,000.

(With AP inputs)

Read: Afghanistan Govt Agrees To Release 400 Taliban Prisoners To Start Peace Talks

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