President Ghani Ordered Release of 400 Taliban Prisoners

The presidential palace (Arg) just announced that President Ghani had ordered the release of 400 dangerous Taliban prisoners. The order is issued after the release of 400 Taliban prisoners approved by the Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly).

The presidential palace (Arg) just announced that President Ghani had ordered the release of 400 dangerous Taliban prisoners. The order is issued after the release of 400 Taliban prisoners approved by the Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly).
“Today, I am signing a decree that I could not sign in my lifetime, because it was beyond my authority. Now, based on your consensus and moral decision, I will sign a decree and release these 400 prisoners,” said President Ghani on 9 August, after the Loya Jirga approved the release of Taliban prisoners.

Under a US peace deal with the Taliban, the Afghan government was to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners. The government released 4,600 Taliban prisoners but refused to free 400 others due to criminal and human rights crimes.

The Taliban group considered this as a hurdle to the peace process and intra-Afghan talks.
After much controversy, the government decided to hold a Peace Consultative Loya Jirga to decide on the release of the remaining 400 prisoners.
The Jirga began on 7 August, and finally, after three days of deliberations, voted to release the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners.