Kabul delays Taliban prisoner release

KABUL: The Afghan government has indefinitely delayed the start of the planned release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners after the militant group failed to guarantee that their fighters would not take up arms again, a development that could further complicate the recently signed peace deal to reduce violence in the country.

Kabul’s decision comes after President Ashraf Ghani last week announced the start of the process releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners in phases as part of the Us-taliban peace deal and efforts to pave the way for intra-afghan talks, reports Efe news.

“We are working on the lists, but it is unclear how long it will take to be completed,” said Javid Faisal, spokesman for the country’s National Security Council told Efe news on Sunday, a day after the government missed its deadline to begin the prisoners release process on Saturday.

The spokesperson said they have been assessing the lists of the Taliban prisoners to ensure the released fighters would not return to the war, after the

Taliban failed to agree to that condition.

“So far no development has been made in this regard from the Taliban side, so far they have shown no commitment to peace, neither in action nor in talks,” Faisal said. “We release these persons to promote peace, not so that they can return to the war,” he added. But the Taliban have insisted that they will not enter the intra-afghan talks until the 5,000 prisoners were released, as was agreed in the peace deal brokered by the US and signed in Doha on February 29.