Taliban has rejected direct talks with Afghan government despite the release of its high-profile prisoners on Tuesday.
On November 12, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he made the decision to release Anas Haqqani, a leader of Taliban’s Haqqani militant faction and two other senior Taliban commanders after consultation with US aimed at “facilitating face-to-face negotiations directly with the Taliban.”
The militants were freed as part of a prisoner swap involving two Westerners including American Kevin King and Australian Timothy John Weeks.
The Taliban released the hostages and 10 Afghan forces and welcomed the swap as a confidence building measure that would help peace process.
Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for Taliban’s political office, however, said that there was no deal for direct talks with Afghan government.
