Kabul: Taliban militants will not take part in intra-Afghan talks until about 5,000 of their prisoners are released, a spokesman said on Monday, presenting a major possible barrier to ending the war. The statement came even as three people were killed and 11 others injured in a bomb blast on Monday at a football match in eastern Afghanistan, as the Taliban announced an end to a partial truce in the country and said that a resumption of operations against Afghan government forces could now take place. Under the “reduction of violence” accord between the US and the Taliban signed last week, the two sides are committed to working towards the release of combat and political prisoners as a confidence-building measure.
The agreement calls for up to 5,000 jailed Taliban prisoners to be released in exchange for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by March 10. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, not involved in the talks, has rejected that demand. “We are fully ready for the intra-Afghan talks, but we are waiting for the release of our 5,000 prisoners,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. “If our 5,000 prisoners do not get released there will be no intra-Afghan talks.”
The US has said that after more than 18 years of war, it hopes negotiations towards a permanent political settlement and ceasefire can start in coming days, but analysts see stark challenges ahead. Zabihullah said a deal on a reduction in violence in the seven days leading up to the oeace pact had formally ended.
“As we are receiving reports that people are enjoying the reduction in violence, we don’t want to spoil their happiness, but it does not mean that we will not take our normal military activities back to the level that we were before,” he said. Meanwhile, the police chief of Khost province, said that a motorcycle rigged with a bomb exploded during a football match, killing three brothers. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Two Taliban leaders who declined to be named said that the reduction in violence in practice ended on Monday.
According to the US-Taliban deal, up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners should be released by March10 in order to facilitate the intra-Afghan negotiations. March 10 has been slated as a date for commencement of the intra-Afghan dialogue, involving Taliban, a delegation of Afghan government and representatives of the Afghan society, reportedly in Oslo. The Taliban would release up to 1,000 prisoners. Until recently, the Taliban had refused to speak to the Western-backed Afghan government, saying it was a “puppet regime”.
America has said a planned US troop withdrawal over the next 14 months is linked to the Taliban’s counter-terrorism performance.
Addressing a press conference in Kabul, the Afghan president criticised the US-Taliban deal, saying an agreement that was signed behind closed doors will have basic problems in its implementation. Ghani said that Washington was not authorised to speak, discuss or agree with Taliban on release of prisoners. “Any prisoner release is not in the authority of the US. It is the authority of the government of Afghanistan to make any such decision,” Ghani said, adding that there was no commitment to the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners. Ghani said the release of prisoners cannot be considered a precondition for intra-Afghan talks. It can be part of the negotiations, he remarked.
