President Ashraf Ghani’s spokesman said on Wednesday that the Afghan government will gradually release 5,000 Taliban prisoners starting this week to pave the way for direct talks with the insurgent group aimed at ending the 18-year-long war in Afghanistan. (1/3) President Ghani issued a decree tonight to release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners starting Saturday from a list provided by the Taliban. The Taliban had already agreed to release up to 1,000 prisoners from the Afghan government side. — U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad (@US4AfghanPeace) March 10, 2020 Taking to social media website the United States Special Representative to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad tweeted that the assertion signed by Ghani assured the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners. The two-page decree said that all released Taliban prisoners would have to provide “a written guarantee to not return to the battlefield”. President Ghani has signed the decree that would facilitate the release of the Taliban prisoners in accordance with an accepted framework for the start of negotiation between the Taliban and the afghan government. Details of the decree will be shared tomorrow. — Sediq Sediqqi (@SediqSediqqi) March 10, 2020 The decree laid out details about how the Taliban prisoners would be released in a systematic manner to further peace talks. “The process of releasing 1,500 Taliban prisoners will be completed within 15 days, with 100 prisoners walking out of Afghan jails every day,” the decree said, adding that the release process would begin in four days. Talks between the Taliban and the Afghan Government to end the war would run parallel with the release, the decree said. Commanders of the hardline insurgent Islamist group said they would honour the deal by handing over 1,000 government troops.