Kabul releases Taliban prisoners ahead of peace talks
KABUL — Afghanistan has released the first 80 of a final 400 Taliban prisoners, paving the way for negotiations between the warring sides in Afghanistan’s protracted conflict, the government said Friday.
Javid Faisal, spokesman for the Afghan National Security Council, made the announcement. Taliban officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 86 prisoners were freed. It wasn’t immediately known when the remaining prisoners would be released.
Prisoner releases on both sides are part of an agreement signed in February between the U.S. and the Taliban. It calls for the release of 5,000 Taliban militants held by the government and 1,000 government and military personnel held by the insurgent group as a goodwill gesture ahead of intraAfghan negotiations.
Talks are expected to be held in Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office. Several Afghan leaders said talks could begin by Aug. 20.
The negotiations are to lay out a framework for a postwar Afghanistan. Washington’s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad spent a year and a half negotiating the peace deal aimed at allowing American troops to return home and end America’s longest military engagement.
U.S. troops already have begun leaving, and by November fewer than 5,000 troops are expected to still be in Afghanistan, down from nearly 13,000 when the agreement was signed
Feb. 29.
American and NATO troop withdrawal is contingent on the Taliban keeping their commitment not to allow militant groups to use Afghanistan against the United States or its allies. The withdrawal is not tied to successful talks between the warring sides.
Last weekend, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani held a traditional council meeting known as loya jirga to reach a consensus on the release of a final 400 Taliban he said were accused of serious crimes, saying without explanation that he could not unilaterally decide to release them.
Also on Friday, a small bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded near a mosque in Kabul just as worshipers were finishing their prayers, wounding a police officer. No one immediately took responsibility, but the Islamic State group has in the past targeted mosques in Afghanistan.