Taliban prisoners freed as US prepares to leave Afghanistan

Afghan authorities have freed hundreds more Taliban prisoners, as calls grew for the militants to extend a ceasefire.

Afghan Taliban prisoners from Bagram Prison walk to reedom in Kabul. Picture: AP

Afghan authorities have freed hundreds more Taliban prisoners, as calls grew for the militants to extend a ceasefire on its third and final day.

The historic pause in fighting — only the second in nearly 19 years of war — has mostly held across Afghanistan, providing a rare respite from the conflict’s grinding violence.

Authorities said they had ­released about 900 Taliban prisoners across the country on Tuesday, about 600 of them from the notorious Bagram jail near Kabul.

The release comes as the US prepares to withdraw thousands of its troops from the country, starting as early as September.

The Pentagon’s plans include a series of options that range from a complete withdrawal to a partial pull-out, defence officials said. One option would leave about 5000 troops in Afghanistan, and another plan would leave about 1500 troops there. Another proposal would remove all American forces.

Under the current drawdown plan, agreed to during peace talks between the US and the Taliban in February, the US military would reduce its footprint to about 8600 troops by July.

The Pentagon is ahead of schedule and expects to hit that threshold in coming days.

The US-Taliban deal also stipulates the Afghan government would release up to 5000 Taliban prisoners and the militants would free about 1000 national security personnel.

Before Tuesday’s ­releases, Kabul had freed about 1000 Taliban inmates, while the insurgents released about 300 Afghan security force captives.

The prisoner release is part of a pledge by the Afghan government to free up to 2000 insurgent prisoners in response to the Taliban’s three-day ceasefire offer, which began on Sunday to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid.

The prisoners had signed written pledges not to return to the battlefield, but several vowed to continue fighting if foreign forces remained.

“We don’t want foreigners to stay any longer in our country. They must leave immediately,” one former fighter said.

Each former prisoner was given the equivalent of about $98 in Afghan currency. The buses they had boarded at the prison dropped them in Kabul, where they bid goodbyes to each other and took taxis to their homes.

Afghan authorities hoped the Taliban would extend the ceasefire so delayed peace talks with the insurgents could begin, Nat­ional Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said.

The ceasefire has raised hopes of an extended truce that could pave the way for talks, which had originally been scheduled to start by March 10. A senior Taliban source earlier said the group could extend the ceasefire by seven days if the government sped up prisoner releases.

All US options on withdrawing would likely fundamentally change the current two-pronged American strategy, which includes training and advising ­Afghan forces as well as conducting counter-­terrorism missions against Islamic State and other extremist groups.

Donald Trump has pressed defence officials to show demonstrable progress on drawing down American forces in long-running war zones. The US President on Tuesday said he wanted troops home, but didn’t provide details.

“We are not meant to be a police force, we’re meant to be a fighting force,” he said.

AFP, Wall Street Journal