Afghan government frees over 300 Taliban prisoners in Eid ceasefire deal

The Afghan government says a further 300 Taliban prisoners have been released since Friday as part of a deal, taking the total number of militants freed so far to just over 4,900.

The Office of the National Security Council (ONSC) said in a statement Sunday that the government released 317 more Taliban prisoners from Parwan and other provincial prisons, bringing the total to 4,917.

The latest batch of the Taliban inmates were part of the 500 Taliban prisoners ordered free by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday in a gesture of goodwill.

The Taliban announced a surprise ceasefire during the three-day Muslim Eid al-Adha festival that started on Friday. The Afghan government welcomed and reciprocated the move with President Ghani pledging to wrap-up the troubled prisoner swap with the Taliban and urging them to get ready for talks in a week.

The truce, which is the third official ceasefire in nearly 19 years of war, has raised hopes for peace talks to be start soon.

Since Friday, there have been no reports of major clashes between the militants and government forces.

Afghan people, officials call for permanent ceasefire

‘The people demand a lasting ceasefire and the start of direct talks between the Taliban and the government.’

Both President Ashraf Ghani and the Taliban have signaled that protracted peace negotiations could begin once Eid-al Adha is over.

The Taliban and the US in February signed a deal that slated Afghan peace talks to begin in March, but discussions were delayed by disagreements over terms of a prisoner swap. 

The deal, which sets the stage for the withdrawal of all US-led foreign forces from Afghanistan, required Kabul to free some 5,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for 1,000 Afghan security personnel held by the Taliban. The Taliban said they have already fulfilled their side of the exchange. 

Authorities, however, have refused to free hundreds of inmates accused of serious crimes that the militant group had requested for release. President Ghani has said the decision on the release of the Taliban prisoners accused of serious crimes should be made by Loya Jirga, a grand assembly of Afghan elders.

Official data shows that bombings and other assaults by the Taliban have surged 70 percent since the militant group signed a deal with the United States. 

Ghani said last week that more than 3,500 Afghan troops and nearly 800 civilians had been killed since a peace deal was signed between the Taliban and the US in late February, in Doha.

Afghan president expects talks with Taliban ‘in one week's time’

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says negotiations between his government and the Taliban militant group are expected to begin “in a week’s time.”

The United States led a military coalition of its allies in 2001 to invade Afghanistan to topple a Taliban regime, believing it was harboring the al-Qaeda terrorist group.

The militants now control or hold influence over more Afghan territory than at any point since that time and have carried out near-daily attacks against US-led foreign forces and Afghan military outposts throughout the country.

Over 100,000 people have been killed or injured since 2009, when the UN mission in Afghanistan began documenting casualties.

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