France has asked the Afghan government not to release Taliban fighters who are convicted of killing French citizens, its foreign ministry said on Saturday.
The Afghan government has agreed to release 400 “hard-core” prisoners as part of moves towards peace talks with the Taliban. At least 80 of those prisoners have been released so far.
“France is particularly concerned by the presence, among the individuals liable to be released, of several terrorists convicted of killing French citizens in Afghanistan,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“It firmly opposes the liberation of individuals convicted of crimes against French nationals, in particular soldiers and humanitarian workers,” it said.
“As a result, we have immediately asked the Afghan authorities not to proceed with the release of these terrorists.”
The Taliban are demanding the release of 5,000 prisoners as part of their deal with the United States ahead of intra-Afghan peace talks.
Disagreement over the release of prisoners has delayed the talks which the US-Taliban deal scheduled to begin on March 10.
Earlier, Australia had also urged the United States to stop the release of a Taliban militant who killed three Australian soldiers.
