Pakistan has agreed to release some Afghan Taliban prisoners
Islamabad: Pakistan has agreed to free some Afghan Taliban prisoners that could be useful in reconciliation efforts, officials from both countries said on Wednesday.
“We aren’t too certain whether they can play an important role in peace negotiations but it is a positive gesture from Pakistan in helping peace efforts,” an Afghan official told Reuters. He said it was not clear when the release would occur.
It is also not clear why Pakistan made the gesture at this time.
The decision to release the prisoners was a major achievement for Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, which is in Islamabad to push for Taliban releases and has been struggling to ease mistrust between the Taliban and the Kabul government.
NO PROGRESS
Afghan officials have suspected that Pakistan has been holding Afghan Taliban members in jail to retain some control over peace efforts and have a say in any settlement.
Some of them include former Justice Minister Mullah Nooruddin Toorabi and Mullah Jahangirwal, former secretary of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, Afghan High Peace Council officials say.
Afghan and US officials accuse Pakistan of using insurgent groups, including the highly lethal Haqqani network, as proxies in Afghanistan to counter the influence of rival India. Pakistan rejects that.
Afghanistan has been known to want access to Taliban leaders belonging to the so-called Quetta Shura, or council, named after the Pakistani city where they are believed to be based.
Pakistan has consistently denied giving sanctuary to insurgents and says no Taliban leaders are in Quetta.
