Taliban Prisoners Archives - Iran News Daily

Afghanistan to Transfer Seven Prisoners to Qatar

reporter 1222 — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 10:52:49 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Afghanistan will transfer to Qatar seven prisoners whose release has been demanded by the Taliban ahead of peace talks set to start this week, officials of both warring sides, as well as Western diplomats, said on Thursday.

An Afghan official said the captives would be freed soon, although the government had not wanted to release them on the grounds that they were guilty of killing foreign soldiers.

“They will be shifted to Doha,” he said, adding that top Afghan officials were set to travel to the capital of the Persian Gulf state this week for the talks.

On Monday, the Afghan government resumed the release of Taliban captives after days of vacillating because they had been involved in serious crimes.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday that Kabul had “fulfilled all its commitments.”

“The release of Taliban prisoners is a clear demonstration of the government’s commitment to peace,” Ghani said.

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Afghanistan Ghani Orders Release of 500 Taliban Prisoners

reporter 1222 — Sat, 01 Aug 2020 09:26:39 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani ordered the release of 500 Taliban prisoners as part of a new ceasefire that could lead to long-delayed peace talks.

Ghani said on Friday they would be freed during the Eid Al-Adha holiday, which started Friday and has prompted a national cease-fire for three days, Reuters reported.

The release would reportedly complete the government’s pledge to free 5,000 Taliban members as outlined in a deal the fighters signed with Washington, he said.

“To show goodwill and accelerate the peace talks, we will release 500 Taliban prisoners in response to the group’s three-day cease-fire announcement,” Ghani said in an Eid speech.

However, the 500 inmates are not on the original list of 5,000 demanded by the Taliban.

Kabul authorities have already released 4,600 of those prisoners but are hesitating about the release of the final 400, deeming them too dangerous.

“I do not have the right to decide on the release of those 400 Taliban prisoners who are accused of serious crimes,” Ghani said, adding that a gathering of Afghan elders would decide their fate.

The Taliban, who have insisted on the release of those 400, did not immediately comment.

The so-called US-Taliban accord signed in February stipulated Kabul would release 5,000 insurgents in return for 1,000 government forces held captive by the group.

Late Thursday, the Taliban said they had completed the release of all 1,000 government prisoners.

The contentious prisoner swap is a key precondition for peace talks.

Both Ghani and the Taliban signaled this week they were ready for talks after Eid, provided the prisoner swap is complete.

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Afghanistan frees hundreds of Taliban prisoners

reporter 1222 — Wed, 27 May 2020 04:59:51 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Afghanistan authorities said on Tuesday 900 more Taliban prisoners will be released, as calls grew for the militants to extend a cease-fire on its third and final day.

The pause in fighting – which came into effect on Sunday to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr – was, for the most part, holding across the country, officials said. The government announced plans Sunday to release up to 2,000 prisoners in response to the Taliban’s three-day cease-fire offer, AFP reported.

On Monday they freed 100, and will release another 900, the government said – the biggest group of Taliban prisoners to be freed so far.

The exact number could vary subject to legal procedures, National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said.

He said the authorities hoped the Taliban would extend the cease-fire so that delayed peace talks could commence.

“If the Taliban are ready to extend the cease-fire, we are ready to continue the cease-fire too,” Faisal told a news conference.

“We hope they release our prisoners so that intra-Afghan peace talks begin as soon as possible… The future depends on the Taliban’s next move,” he said.

A senior member of the Taliban said the group planned to release about 200 Afghan security force members held captive, without specifying when.

The cease-fire, only the second of its kind in the 19-year-old conflict, has raised hopes of an extended truce that could pave the way for long-awaited peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government.

“Extend the cease-fire. Save lives,” Shaharzad Akbar, the head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, said on Twitter.

“End the violence so that we can all focus on making services available to the most vulnerable across the country, on expanding access to human rights, so that we have space to breathe.”

Another senior Taliban source said that the group could extend the cease-fire by seven days if the government speeds up the release of prisoners.

But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he had no information about an extension.

The Taliban has insisted on the release of their militants as agreed to with the United States in February.

The US-Taliban deal stipulates the Afghan government would release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and the militants would free about 1,000 national security personnel.

It also paves the way for all foreign forces to leave the country by next year.

Prior to this week’s releases, Kabul had already freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates, while the militants had let go about 300 Afghan security forces captives.

President Ashraf Ghani has said his government is ready to begin peace negotiations – which had been scheduled to start by March 10 – seen as key to ending the war in the country.

Before the cease-fire started the Taliban had claimed deadly attacks against Afghan forces across the country.

The group denied a gruesome attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul earlier this month when gunmen shot dead mothers, nurses, and newborns.

Ghani has blamed the Taliban and the Daesh terror group for the hospital attack which triggered international outrage.

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‘Executive Guarantee’ for Taliban Prisoners Freedom; Ghani Says

reporter 1222 — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 12:56:15 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The proposed release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners, required under their peace deal with the US, can happen only if the Afghan government gets a guarantee that they will not “return to violence”, President Ashraf Ghani said.

“The people’s request is that there should be an executive guarantee so that these people will not return to violence once they are released,” the Afghan leader told parliament on Saturday, adding that a “transparent mechanism” has to be established to enact that part of the Taliban-US deal, RT reported.

Under the agreement signed by the US and the Taliban in Qatar last Saturday, as many as 5,000 members of the militant group currently held in Afghan prisons would be released by March 10. This would pave the way to intra-Afghan talks on the future of the country.

Ghani, who is to be inaugurated on Monday for his second term as Afghanistan’s president, said earlier that his government was bound to no commitment to free the prisoners.

During his parliament speech, Ghani asked MPs to provide seven lawmakers to participate in the reconciliation council, a body that would handle the talks with the Taliban on the government side. He wouldn’t promise that any of them would be included in the negotiating team, however.

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