The radical Islamist Taliban movement is pulling out of prisoner-exchange talks with the Afghan government. This was reported by the so-called representative of the Taliban, Sukhail Shahin, reports UNN with reference to DW.
According to him, the militants sent their representatives to Kabul to identify their prisoners. “However, unfortunately, the release was postponed under one pretext or another until now. Therefore, from tomorrow our technical team will not participate in futile meetings, ”the representative of the Taliban wrote.
In turn, the negotiator from the government of Afghanistan, Matin Bek, accused the Taliban of the delay and transferred all responsibility to them. According to him, the Taliban are demanding the release of “15 top commanders,” but the government cannot release the “killers of our people.” “We do not want them to return to the battlefield and capture an entire province,” he told reporters.
Beck assured that Kabul is ready to release 400 “less dangerous” Taliban prisoners if the Taliban cease their attacks. However, the Taliban rejected this offer.
The Afghan government and the Taliban have been negotiating in Kabul for almost a week about the prisoner exchange, which was originally planned for March 10, AFP news agency reported.
Reaching an exchange agreement is a key component of the agreement between the US and the Islamists. This agreement provides for the release of up to 5,000 militants and up to a thousand Afghan soldiers. After the exchange, intra-Afghan peace negotiations should begin.
Since the signing of this agreement in late February, the Taliban have carried out several attacks during which they killed numerous Afghan security forces.