Afghan media reports say Afghan government representatives and the Taliban have met in Kabul for the first time to discuss a prisoner swap aimed at jump-starting a floundering peace process.
“The two sides held face-to-face negotiations about the release of Afghan National Defense and Security Force personnel as well as Taliban prisoners,” Afghanistan's Office of the National Security Council said on Twitter.
According to TOLONews, sources within the Afghan government said yesterday that the government and the Taliban are set to swap the first batch of their prisoners on Thursday.
Up to 100 Taliban prisoners will be swapped with 20 government forces, said the sources.
Sources close to the Taliban, speaking on condition of anonymity, named the Taliban’s delegates in Kabul. “The Taliban delegates are named Maulavi Abdul Fatah, Maulavi Ibrahim and Akhtar Mohammad, these Taliban delegates belong to the Taliban’s committee on the prisoner release,” said Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban commander.
“The three-member delegation will prove helpful in addressing the issue of the prisoners,” said Mohib Sharifi, a political analyst in Kabul, according to TOLONews.
It was the first time the Taliban have been invited to Afghanistan's capital to meet directly with government officials since they were toppled in the US-led invasion of 2001.
The two sides had spoken previously in a video conference to discuss the prisoner issue.
This comes days after the Afghan government announced the formation of a 21-member peace negotiating team intended to undertake direct talks with the Taliban once the prisoners are released.
“The government has created the delegation based on article 60 of the parliamentary law. The house (parliament) will monitor the process. First, the government will conduct the talks and the parliament will decide on it once a document is signed,” said Mir Rahman Rahmani, speaker of the parliament
