Afghanistan Times
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KABUL: Citing the infection of 47 prisoners with the novel coronavirus, the Taliban group – with whom the Afghan government discussing prisoners swap – has warned that it would hunt revenge if their prisoners get affected by the pandemic in Afghan jails.
“We have already expressed our concerns on the prisoners’ condition,” the militant group said in a statement on Wednesday. “There are many problems such as shortage of food and medication. If the coronavirus reaches jails, it will lead to a disaster.”
The Afghan government has released hundreds of Taliban prisoners as part of the US-Taliban peace deal signed on February 29th in Doha, Qatar. In return, the insurgents have separately freed about 60 prisoners, who were mostly civilians, according to the Afghan government.
But the process of prisoner swap seems to be collapsed as the militants continued attack against the Afghan government.
The militants had recently pointed fingers on Washington, saying the US has dragged itself out of peace deal and that it would be held accountable for any consequences. “Government officials, human rights organizations have ignored the issue of prisoners,” the statement reads.
The militants called on the human rights watchdogs to take all-out efforts regarding prisoner protection from the pandemic virus.
Afghanistan recorded over 1900 covid-19 cases with 60 deaths.
