Afghan talks to kick off as Kabul set to free Taliban prisoners – By Al Jazeera and News Agencies (Al Jazeera) / Aug 10 2020
The prisoners’ fate has been a crucial hurdle in launching peace talks between Kabul and Taliban armed group.
Peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban are expected to start in Qatar within a week once the final batch of Taliban prisoners was released, the US special envoy and Afghan government sources said on Monday.
The government accepted the advice of a Loya Jirga, a grand assembly of elders sometimes held to decide on controversial issues, on Sunday to release 400 Taliban prisoners, paving the way for the so-called intra-Afghan talks aimed at ending a war that has ground on since Taliban government was removed from power in US-led invasion in 2001.
The prisoner release was part of a US-Taliban agreement signed in February. The Afghan government, which was not party to the deal, was expected to release a total of 5,000 prisoners to kickstart the talks.
“Our stance is clear, if the prisoner release is completed, then we are ready for the intra-Afghan talks within a week,” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told AFP news agency, adding that the first round of talks will be held in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
The intra-Afghan talks, which were initially slated to be held in March, were delayed as the Afghan government was reluctant to release all the Taliban prisoners.
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