Afghanistan Times
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KABUL: A paradox seems to have emerged from the figures presented by the Kabul government and the Taliban of prisoners being released by both sides.
Although the Afghan government claimed on Sunday to have freed some 290 Taliban prisoners that day, those inmates have not been released so far. Pleading anonymity, a source in Afghanistan National Security Council said the government was still scrutinizing the list of the Taliban prisoners.
However, spokesman of the National Security Council Javid Faisal has said the 290 Taliban inmates are to be released on Monday. With this, the total number of rebel prisoners the government has thus far released will amount to 3,000.
This is as spokesman to the Taliban, Suhail Shaheen, said in a tweet that Kabul had freed only 2,284 of their prisoners. “Their claims about figures of prisoners are not accurate,” he said, asking the government to get the facts right.
Even though the process of prisoner swap has sped up recently, there seems to be inconsistency about the figures of freed prisoners.
The State Ministry for Peace has said that it is working on starting the direct talks between the government and the Taliban. “People and the government demand an immediate start of intra-Afghan negotiations,” said spokesman to the ministry, Najia Anwari.
