Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani agreed Wednesday to a phased release of thousands of imprisoned Taliban fighters. This decision follows an earlier refusal that threatened to thwart the recently negotiated peace plan between the Taliban, the US and the Afghan government.
The president announced that the government has agreed to release the prisoners in exchange for the Taliban’s agreement to provide a written guarantee to not return to the battlefield and the release of 1,000 government troops. The Taliban must also continue its reduction in violence and bar al Qaeda or any other extremist groups from operating in areas under their control.
In exchange, the government will release 100 prisoners a day for 15 days. After the release of the first 1,500 prisoners, the government has also agreed to free 500 more prisoners every two weeks until a total of 5,000 have been released contingent on the continuation of more direct peace talks. Talks were originally scheduled to begin on Tuesday but were obstructed by this disagreement.
However, the question remains as to which specific prisoners will be released and how the Taliban will react to the selections made by the government. The Taliban has provided the government with a list of prisoners that they will accept. The government appears to have rejected this list and, instead, has announced it will make its decision based on age, health and length of sentence. In response, the Taliban has accused the government of acting in bad faith and has warned that it may reject the deal if their demands are not met.
The broader plan was unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council in a resolution on Tuesday afternoon, which welcomed the recent steps towards ending the conflict in Afghanistan. All 15 members supported the resolution, tabled by the US, which “endorsed a joint US-Afghan declaration on peace and an agreement signed between Washington and the Taliban.” Under the current plan, the US has agreed to reduce its troops from about 12,000 to 8,600 within 135 days, and US and NATO allies have agreed to withdraw all troops within 14 months if the Taliban upholds the deal. The withdrawal of US troops officially started on Tuesday.
Further contributing to the political fragility of Afghanistan is the uncertain outcome of the recent election. Afghanistan’s electoral commission says incumbent Ghani narrowly won September’s vote, but Abdullah Abdullah alleges the result is fraudulent, and both candidates have held separate swearing-in ceremonies. US President Donald Trump’s acknowledgment of President Ghani may serve to further his case.
