Implications for Afghan government to release Taliban prisoners

Muhammad Yosry

The Afghan government announced, on the evening of Wednesday, April 8, 2020, the release of 100 Taliban prisoners, a few hours after the suspension of negotiations between the two parties, which the government described as sterile.

Javed Faisal, a spokesman for the Afghan National Security Council, explained the release as a result of health considerations for the prisoners, who were not among the movement’s leaders.

The matter raised many questions about the undisclosed reasons for this process, and the political motives behind it, especially the presence of the American partner, the peace process partner in Afghanistan, who reached a peace agreement with the Taliban in the Qatari capital, Doha, that included the withdrawal of US forces within 14 months.

Taliban objections

One day before the prisoners’ release, the Taliban announced that they had abandoned discussions with the Afghan government regarding the prisoner exchange, and described these negotiations as “fruitless”.

This comes especially since the release of prisoners was delayed under one pretext or another, and this was a key point in the Doha negotiations.

Sohail Shahin, the Taliban’s political spokesman, confirmed that the release of prisoners is one of the basic conditions for continuing negotiations with Kabul that started on March 10, 2020, and confirmed in press statements that the United States is a fundamental guarantor of the prisoner exchange deal between the movement and the Afghan government.

He explained that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani did not make any pledges on that, while Ghani stressed during a press conference held in the Afghan capital, Kabul, immediately after the Doha Agreement, that the release of the detainees is not the business of the United States.

American pressure

Since the signing of the Doha agreement, the United States of America has been pressuring the Afghan government to implement the conditions of the Taliban movement, led by the release of the movement’s prisoners.

On March 25, 2020, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ended a one-day visit to Afghanistan, and made statements to Reuters.

The news said that he was disappointed with the results of the visit, adding that efforts will continue to persuade all parties to the conflict to embrace peace and reconciliation.

Afghan media quoted the US Secretary of State warning to Afghan President Ashraf Abdul Ghani of the failure to reach an agreement with the Taliban, saying that this would lead to the withdrawal of all US forces from Afghanistan.