The United States would like to see prisoner releases begin as soon as possible in line with the deal with Taliban, its special envoy said on Wednesday.
In a series of tweets, Zalmay Khalilzad said that no prisoners have been released to date despite the commitment to do so expressed by both sides.
The envoy said that the Taliban commit that released prisoners will abide by the commitments made in the peace agreement and not return to the battlefield. “A violation will undermine the peace process.”
“The time has come to move forward on prisoner releases.”
Under the deal, the Afghan government would release 5,000 Taliban prisoners while the group would free 1,000 by March 10 when intra-Afghan talks were expected to start.
However, the process has been delayed due to the Afghan government’s reluctance. President Ashraf Ghani has said that prisoner release would be conditional with majority happening during talks. The Taliban have rejected conditions.
