{"id":45462,"date":"2020-08-17T21:10:20","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T21:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/08\/17\/afghanistan-government-halts-prisoner-release-delaying-talks-with-taliban\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:45:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:45:25","slug":"afghanistan-government-halts-prisoner-release-delaying-talks-with-taliban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2020\/08\/17\/afghanistan-government-halts-prisoner-release-delaying-talks-with-taliban\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghanistan government halts prisoner release, delaying talks with Taliban"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KABUL, Afghanistan \u2014 The Afghan government said Monday it would not release the last 320 Taliban prisoners<\/a> it is holding until the insurgents free more captured soldiers, defying a traditional council held last week and further delaying intra-Afghan talks sought by the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The talks, which were laid out in a peace deal signed between the United States and the Taliban in February, were expected to begin on Thursday but are now postponed indefinitely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling by the traditional council<\/a>, or jirga, which called for the immediate release of the Taliban prisoners, had raised hopes of a breakthrough in the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S.-Taliban peace deal<\/a> called on the Taliban to free 1,000 government and military personnel and for the government to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners. The prisoner releases were to be a goodwill gesture ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations aimed at devising a postwar roadmap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are going to release them. That\u2019s not an issue. But it has to be two-way,\u201d government spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told The Associated Press. \u201cIf we take this bold step, releasing all these guys, all these bad people, why are the Taliban not releasing our captives, which is a very small number?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Afghan
Afghan presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi gives an interview to The Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. (Rahmat Gul\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban\u2019s political spokesman, said the group had fulfilled its obligations and was not aware of any other security personnel in its custody who were to be released. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have released 1,000 prisoners that we had promised to release,\u201d Shaheen said. The Taliban have said they are ready to open talks with the government within one week of the release of the last Taliban prisoners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal with the Taliban is aimed at ending the U.S. war in Afghanistan that began shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. U.S. troops have already begun leaving, and by November, fewer than 5,000 troops are expected to still be in the country. That\u2019s down from nearly 13,000 when the agreement was signed Feb. 29. <\/p>\n\n\n\t