The Afghan government has refused to free 597 Taliban fighters whose release is crucial for the start of intra-Afghan peace talks, media reported Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th July, 2020) The Afghan government has refused to free 597 Taliban fighters whose release is crucial for the start of intra-Afghan peace talks, media reported Monday.
The Office of Prisons Administration said that the men in question had been convicted of criminal offenses, including murder, according to 1TV news, an Afghan tv channel.
The Afghan government has already freed 4,000 of the 5,000 militants from the Taliban's list. The insurgents have in turn released 616 war prisoners, many of them security forces.
The prisoner exchange is a precondition for the start of reconciliation talks agreed by the Taliban and the United States in February. The militant group has insisted that all its prisoners be allowed to walk free before the talks begin.
