report on Khaama Press, Dec 7, 2020 at 09:49 AM
KABUL, Afghanistan – US Chargé d’Affaires Ross Wilson in a chat with reporters Sunday said the Taliban is expecting release of thousands of their prisoners by mid-December under an agreement signed with United States.
“The specific provision relating to another 7,000 Taliban prisoners is contained in the US-Taliban agreement,” Wilson said.
“If you do the math, the Taliban expect under the terms of that agreement that there would be progress on releasing those prisoners by roughly mid-December. I have forgotten the exact date. I think it’s our view,” he added, as TOLOnews quoted.
Wilson said that “all of the various parts of the US-Taliban agreement are interlocked with one another, intersect with one another and that you can’t just take out one and say this one has to be adhered to without other aspects being adhered to.”
Since August, the Afghan government has released some 5,000 Taliban prisoners, including at least seven hardcore members of the group, as part of the agreement that facilitates peace negotiations.
The remarks came days after the Afghan representatives and Taliban negotiators agreed on procedural rules after months of struggle, since the launch of intra-Afghan talks on Sep. 12 in Qatari capital Doha.
