January 20, 2021
Waheed Omar, President Ghani’s senior adviser for public and strategic affairs, on Wednesday said that the Afghan government will not release more Taliban prisoners as the previous releases have resulted in a surge in violence. “We are not in favor of releasing more Taliban prisoners,’ because despite the government’s release of Taliban prisoners as part of the peace process, violence has increased in Afghanistan.
The Taliban had called for the release of 7,000 more prisoners, the removal of the group’s members from the UN blacklist, and the formation of an Islamic system in order to carry the peace talks on. In response, the release of over 5,000 Taliban prisoners before was intended in order to reduce violence as the part of the peace process, Omar stated, but violence has increased because of it.
In the meantime, Republic negotiator Abdul Hafiz Mansoor on Monday said that the negotiating team has decided that it is essential to debate the legitimacy of the war with the Taliban before any advancement can be made as the talks will not have any substantial result until this issue is resolved.
On Sunday, the chief negotiators from the Afghan republic and the Taliban met; but the working groups from both sides failed to meet on Monday. Three meetings have been held since the talks resumed on January 6, but the working groups from both sides have not met and hence the agenda for the talks isn’t decided yet.
According to negotiator Nader Nadery, it was only the heads of the two teams and a limited amount of members who met on Sunday evening and talked over the agenda.
The lack of meetings was condemned by Abdullah Abdullah, head of the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), who met with several foreign diplomats at a virtual event to discuss coordination around the peace efforts.
Abdullah said the peace efforts must be accelerated. Moreover, he urged the Republic negotiating team to prioritize the security and reduction in violence in the country.
Omar showed hope in the new US administration for working in coordination with the Afghan government on peace.
© Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) and Afghan Studies Center (ASC), Islamabad.
