Taliban, Afghan govt to meet for talks
KABUL — Afghan government officials will speak face-to-face with the Taliban in a historic meeting to discuss an initial release of insurgent prisoners, Afghanistan’s National Security Council announced on Wednesday.
The announcement came after the United States and the Taliban signed a deal last month that paves the way for US-led foreign forces to leave Afghanistan. Part of the accord requires the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, and the insurgents to release 1,000 from the government side.
The two foes spoke earlier via videoconference, Afghanistan’s National Security Council said, and agreed on the initial release of 100 Taliban prisoners by March 31.
“100 prisoners will be freed on humanitarian grounds — including health, age and vulnerability to #COVID19 — by March 31 after guarantees by Taliban and the prisoners that they will not re-enter the fight,” the council said on Twitter, referring to the new coronavirus illness.
“To carry out these further discussions, a Taliban team will meet with the government face-to-face in Afghanistan in the coming days.”
It is believed to be the first time ever that the Taliban and the government of President Ashraf Ghani will have met in an official capacity.
The issue of the prisoners has been a major sticking point in the weeks since the US and the Taliban signed a deal in Doha on Feb 29.
Prisoner swap
Initially Ghani, who was not a signatory to the deal, had rejected the release plan before saying he would free 1,500 insurgents as a “gesture of goodwill”, with plans to free a further 3,500 prisoners after peace talks are underway.
The prisoner swap is considered a precursor to such talks, which were supposed to begin on March 10 but were postponed amid the prisoner dispute.
Progress in the spat came two days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lashed out at Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah for failing to come to an agreement following contested elections that saw Abdullah also claim the presidency.
To underscore its exasperation with Afghanistan, Pompeo announced an immediate cut of $1 billion in US aid, with more on the line next year.
In donor-dependent Afghanistan where the GDP is only $20 billion or so, the US cut amounts to a devastating blow to the impoverished country and its government.
Meanwhile, a lone Islamic State gunman rampaged through a Sikh house of worship in the heart of the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, killing 25 worshippers and wounding eight, Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry said.
The gunman held many of the worshippers hostage for several hours as Afghan special forces, helped by international troops, tried to clear the building. At least one of the dead was a child.
Within hours, the IS terror group claimed responsibility for the attack.