Freed Taliban want Afghanistan peace but stay loyal to the cause

MORE than three years inside Afghanistan’s most secure prison have done little to weaken Sher Agha Muhammad Khan’s links to the Taliban.

When the 33-year-old was freed last month in a prisoner swap, one of the first things he did was visit his former militant commander. “I was warmly welcomed, got some financial support and the Taliban promised us that due to my sacrifices, they would give me agricultural land,” he told The Sunday Tele

last week by telephone. After his time in Bagram prison, he wants to return to a simple life on the land. Yet if he was called on to rejoin his former comrades, he would not hesitate. “Before jail, I was not an ideological Talib. Now I am,” he said.

“I will start working as a labourer to earn for my family, but if the Taliban need it, I will be more than happy rejoining them again.”

Sher Agha is one of some 4,000 Taliban prisoners freed by the Afghan government since April, in return for around 750 policemen and soldiers released from militant jails. The swap laid out in February’s accord between the

US and the militants will eventually see Kabul free 5,000 insurgents and the Taliban free 1,000 government forces. That will pave the way for the foes to sit down for the first formal talks to try to end Afghanistan’s four decades of war.

The released Taliban have signed pledges not to return to the fight.

Sher Agha said he was forced into the Taliban by a local dispute in Takhar province. His ancestral land was seized by a local warlord. The courts and government were no help, and for years Sher Agha had no recourse to justice until the resurgence of the Taliban offered the chance of vengeance.

“We had no option except to join the Taliban and take revenge,” he said. He said he spent a few months with the Taliban, but did not take part in attacks. He claimed he now wants peace. “I love peace, and I would love to see a regime after a Taliban and Afghan government deal. I would like to go back to Afghanistan in peace and dignity,” he said. But like other released prisoners, he wants an Islamic government.

“I am firmly against the foreign invaders, and support anyone who stands for pure Islamic rules,” said Muslim Afghan, another recently freed militant.

The 27-year-old was a student at a Kabul university when he was seized six years ago and given a 15-year sentence. Prosecutors told The Telegraph he was linked to two bomb attacks south of the capital but he said he was framed and never took part in attacks.

He said he now wants to resume his studies, adding that there was a clear direction from the Taliban that freed prisoners must not return to fighting. Many Afghans are sceptical.

Bartering over the releases has now reached a hardcore rump of prisoners that Kabul refuses to free because it says they are either plain criminals or guilty of atrocities such as the 2017 bombing of the German embassy that killed 150 civilians.

Muslim Afghan said the insurgents did not need the released prisoners to join their military efforts. “The Taliban has enough men,” he said.

‘I will start working to earn for my family, but if the Taliban need it, I will be more than happy rejoining’