The Afghan government agreed on Sunday to release 400 “hard-core” Taliban prisoners, paving the way for peace talks aimed at ending almost two decades of war.
The insurgent group welcomed the move and said it was ready to begin talks within 10 days of the release.
Under election-year pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump for a deal allowing him to bring home American troops, the country’s grand assembly, or Loya Jirga, on Sunday approved the release.
The Taliban militant had demanded the release of the 400, the last batch among 5,000 prisoners to be freed, as a condition to join peace talks.
“In order to remove an obstacle, allow the start of the peace process and an end of bloodshed, the Loya Jirga approves the release of 400 Taliban,” the assembly said in a resolution.
Minutes later, President Ashraf Ghani announced, “Today, I will sign the release order of these 400 prisoners.”
Last week Ghani invited the grand assembly, some 3,200 community leaders and politicians, to Kabul to advise the government on whether the prisoners should be freed.
READ ALSO: COVID19:Australia Internal Border To Stay Shut
Among the 400 are Taliban members accused of major attacks against civilians and foreigners, including a 2017 truck bombing near the German embassy in Kabul that killed more than 150 people – the deadliest attack in the 19-year insurgency.
Taliban and official sources have told Reuters the group includes members of the militant Haqqani network, which has ties to the Taliban.
With the release, the Afghan government will fulfil its pledge to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners.
