Daily Times

Should the Afghan government release the 400 Taliban prisoners, whose hands have blood of scores of innocent people? This is the million dollar question that is being taken up by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the Loya Jirga, attended by thousands of prominent citizens in Kabul. The Afghan government is in a fix: if it releases the hardcore militants, it will be injustice to civilians and army personnel who were killed by the Taliban militants in terrorist activities; if it does not, Taliban are likely to step out of peace talks and their agreement with the US inked in Doha, and the country may lose a chance to give a chance to peace. Once prisoners are freed, peace talks between the two warring sides may be resumed. The Afghan government must be lauded for releasing almost 5,000 Taliban prisoners in earlier phases, but the release of the remaining 400 prisoners is quite difficult for them. Taliban could have gone ahead in the talks but they balked at the prospects of peace talks without getting freed their fighters. The three-day Jirga, which will conclude on Sunday has to reach a conclusion as Taliban say as soon as the last batch of 400 militants is released, then within three days direct talks will start; in case of no development, Taliban will intensify gun attacks. Taliban know that in the US election year, they have bargain chips on their sides. For that reason, the US camp is also hoping for the release of prisoners. In this regard, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also stressed the Afghan authorities to release the detainees, even though it is an unpopular decision.

In the matters of war and peace, difficult decisions have to be made, but such measures have far-reaching consequences. Taliban have a history of making agreements and breaching them at their will. In fact, they have never proved to be men of words. On the other hand, Pompeo insists that “this difficult action will lead to an important result long sought by Afghans and Afghanistan’s friends: reduction of violence and direct talks resulting in a peace agreement and an end to the war”. If the US wants to see the Taliban prisoners as free men, it should keep watching their activities. Meanwhile, Taliban have least regard for the grand gathering, calling it illegal. Pakistan needs to take a wise decision with the US cooperation on the Afghan peace process. *