Afghanistan released 100 Taliban prisoners on Wednesday, claiming they were among 5,000 detainees to be freed under a deal between insurgents and the US.
The Taliban, however, said they are yet to verify whether those released were on the list they handed over to Washington during negotiations. The prisoner release is a critical first step to intra-Afghan negotiations aimed at bringing an end to decades of war in Afghanistan. The US-Taliban deal signed in February also calls for the Taliban to free 1,000 Government personnel they hold hostage.
Jawed Faisal, spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Security adviser, said the 100 were released from the base in Bagram, near Kabul, on Wednesday.
Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen in a message to The Associated Press said the insurgent group doesn’t know who they are releasing without verification.
He said the Taliban withdrew a technical team to oversee the releases because of delays by the Government.
In a tweet, Shaheen admonished the government for refusing to release the first 15 Taliban they requested and who were on the list.
Meanwhile, in recent days Washington has expressed its frustration with the political turmoil in Kabul as President Ashraf Ghani and his rival in last year’s presidential polls squabble over power sharing amid allegations of election fraud.
