The Afghan government has released 80 of the 400 Taliban prisoners today, Friday, August 14, says an Afghan security spokesperson.
Javid Faisal, spokesperson for Afghanistan Office of the National Security Council (ONSC), in a tweet earlier today, announced that that the Afghan government released 80 Taliban convicts.
The release of the first bunch of 80 Taliban prisoners comes after last week a consultative Loya Jirga, summoned by the Afghan government, agreed to release 400 high profile Taliban prisoners, who according to the Afghan government, were behind documented high profile crimes.
Under the US-Taliban peace deal signed in February, the Afghan government has to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners in return for 1,000 Afghan security personnel kept by the Taliban insurgents.
A Taliban spokesperson, on condition of anonymity, has confirmed to AP that 86 Taliban prisoners were released by the Afghan government.
The development comes while the Afghan delegation of peace talks will meet the Taliban representatives for the first time in the intra-Afghan negotiations which is scheduled to be held on August 16 in Doha, the Qatari capital.
