US welcomes latest release of prisoners in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

The United States on Monday welcomed the latest release of prisoners by the Afghan government and the Taliban.

U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said the move is an important step in the peace process and the reduction of violence.

"Both sides should accelerate efforts to meet targets specified in the U.S.-Taliban agreement as soon as possible. The potential for COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons poses a real threat and is all the more reason to move urgently," Khalilzad tweeted.

On Sunday, the Afghan Taliban released 20 government prisoners and handed them over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in southern Kandahar province.

The development came after Gen. Scott Miller, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, met Taliban leaders in Qatar on Friday.

The Afghan government also freed 100 more Taliban prisoners on Sunday in line with the peace deal between the Taliban and the U.S.

The number of Taliban inmates freed by the Afghan government now totals 300.

On April 7, the Taliban pulled its technical team out of prisoner exchange talks with the government.

Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the group's Qatar office, accused the Afghan government of delaying "under one pretext or another" the release of an estimated 5,000 Taliban prisoners.

"We sent a technical team of the Prisoner’s Commission to Kabul for verification and identification of our prisoners, as release of prisoners was to start as per the signed [U.S.-Taliban] agreement and the promise made [to us]," Shaheen said in a statement.

The Taliban also warned that it would resume full-scale attacks if the Doha peace agreement was not honored.

According to official sources, there are 12,000-15,000 inmates, including foreigners from Pakistan, Central Asia and Gulf countries, in prisons across Afghanistan.

The Taliban have demanded the release of 5,000 of their militants in return for the release of 1,000 captives, including Afghan government officials and security personnel.

The Afghan government, however, insists on releasing them in phases along with intra-Afghan talks and a ceasefire in place.