Afghan government to free 900 Taliban prisoners

Releases could lead to new reductions in violence and officials say they are considering ceasefire extension

Taliban prisoners stand during their release from the Bagram prison, next to the US military base in Bagram, north of Kabul (Getty)

The Afghan government said it would free 900 prisoners on Tuesday, its single largest prisoner release since the US and the Taliban signed a peace deal earlier this year that spells out an exchange of detainees between the warring sides.

The announcement came as a three-day ceasefire with the insurgents draws to an end. The Taliban had called for the truce during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

There are expectations that the prisoner release could lead to new reductions in violence, and Taliban officials say they are considering an extension of the ceasefire.

A senior Taliban figure confirmed this to The Associated Press.

“If these developments, like the announcement of prisoner release continues, it is possible to move forward with decisions like extending the brief ceasefire and to move in a positive direction with some minor issues,” the Taliban official said.

The prisoner release is part of the US deal with the Taliban, signed on 29 February to allow for the eventual withdrawal of US and Nato troops from Afghanistan, bringing to an end the country’s protracted war and America’s longest military involvement.

When the deal was signed, it was touted as Afghanistan’s best chance for peace after decades of war but political feuding in Kabul and delays in prisoner exchanges have slowed the deal’s progress towards intra-Afghan negotiations, considered the second and most critical phase of the accord.

Under the deal, Kabul is to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners while the insurgents are to free 1,000 captives they hold, mostly government officials and Afghan forces, before intra-Afghan negotiations can begin.

Afghan president Ashraf Ghani had welcomed the Taliban ceasefire announcement during the Muslim holiday.

Javid Faisal, a national security spokesman in Kabul, urged the Taliban to extend the ceasefire and said the government would release 900 prisoners on Tuesday.

That would bring to 2,000 the number of Taliban prisoners released so far under the US-Taliban deal. The Taliban say they have released 240 of captives they held.

However, the Taliban have yet to confirm whether those released so far by the government were among the 5,000 names the insurgents had given US negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad, the architect of the 29 February deal.

A second Taliban official told the AP that those released so far were in fact on the Taliban list of demands, including the uncle of Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada. Key in deciding which names would appear on the list was Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, a senior figure who had recently recovered from Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

Mr Turabi was the much-feared vice and virtue minister during the Taliban rule, known for beating men who were found listening to music or not attending the mosque. He once slapped a Taliban commander who spoke with a woman journalist.

Both Taliban officials spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to reporters.

Associated Press​