Suhail shaheen, Afghan politician

Kabul, April 14 American peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and General Austin S. Miller, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, met a Taliban delegation led by the deputy leader of the group Mullah Baradar in Qatar and discussed the agreement inked by the tw sides for peace in Afghanistan.The meeting was announced on Monday by the Taliban on Twitter, and Khalilzad's trip to Qatar was confirmed by a statement from the US State Department, reports TOLO News."They talked about complete implementation of the agreement as well as delay in the release of the prisoners. Violations of the agreement and other issues and ways of their solutions were also discussed," said Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman in Qatar.A source familiar with the talks told TOLO News that Gen. Miller while meeting with Taliban in Qatar "focused on the need to reduce violence and creating the conditions for intra-Afghan negotiations"."He underscored that all sides should capitalize on the opportunity for peace."Based on the US-Taliban peace agreement, 5,000 prisoners of the group should be released by the Afghan government, and 1,000 prisoners should be released by the Taliban, to pave the way for intra-Afghan negotiations.Recently, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, responded to the first group of prisoners released by the Afghan government, calling the freed detainees "unidentified."The Afghan government has so far released 361 Taliban prisoners from Bagram prison, says Javid Faisal, a spokesman for the Office of the National Security Council.As per President Ghani's decree, said Faisal, "releases will continue across other prisons to free a total of 1,500 as part of our efforts to advance peace and fight COVID-19".On Sunday, the Taliban released 20 government prisoners, the group tweeted.Khalilzad in a tweet welcomed the prisoner releases by both the Afghan government and Taliban.He says that both sides should "accelerate efforts" to meet targets of the US-Taliban agreement because "potential for COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons poses a real threat".( With inputs from IANS )

Suhail ShaheenFOLLOW

Suhail shaheen, Latest News

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Taliban deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar discussed the start of the intra-Afghan talks and the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, TOLOnews reported citing the group's spokesman Suhail Shaheen. ...

Kabul, Aug 1 Afghans celebrated Eid al-Adha amid a three-day ceasefire called by the Taliban. On Tuesday, the ... ...

Kabul, July 31 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday ordered the release of 500 Taliban prisoners in response ... ...

Taliban have recently clarified that they do not support the 'holy war' against India and that Kashmir is India's internal matter. ...

Recently Taliban clarified that it does not support the so-called 'holy war' against India and that Kashmir is India's internal matter. ...

The Taliban said that they have freed another 28 Afghan prisoners as part of efforts to accelerate the mutual release of detained persons with Kabul. ...

The Taliban has rejected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's call for a ceasefire amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying that the government's inattention to "thousands" of prisoners made the President's appeal "insincere", it was reported. ...

American peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and General Austin S. Miller, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, met a Taliban delegation led by the deputy leader of the group Mullah Baradar in Qatar and discussed the agreement inked by the tw ...