It is noted that all parties have reiterated their commitments to reduce violence in the country.
The Qatari and U.S. authorities facilitated the first technical talks between the Afghan government and the radical Taliban movement (banned in Russia) on prisoner exchange. The conversation was held remotely due to concerns about the Coronavirus pandemic. This was stated in a press release issued by the Qatari Foreign Ministry on Sunday.
“In its statement today, the Foreign Ministry [of Qatar] reports that the talks were fruitful and constructive, during which both sides discussed important issues relating to the lists of prisoners and ways to verify them, as well as the [list] of places of their detention and transfer of [prisoners] in agreed places”, – the press release said.
It is noted that all parties have reiterated their commitments to reducing violence in the country and have also agreed to resume negotiations over the next few days. Qatar and the U.S. also demanded an acceleration of the prisoner exchange process as coronavirus spread.
On 29 February in Doha, the United States and the Taliban signed a peace agreement under which negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan Government for a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire were to begin on 10 March. Prior to the start of the inter-Afghan negotiations, prisoners were to be exchanged as confidence-building measures, as agreed. On March 18, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, called on the Afghan authorities to release urgently the captives of radical Taliban supporters because of the proliferation of a new type of coronavirus.
March 19, Afghan authorities ordered the national army and security forces to resume combat operations against the Taliban.