The United States (U.S.) Secretary of State – Mike Pompeo held a virtual meeting with the Co-Founder of Taliban Movement – Mullah Baradar Ghani, to discuss the way forward on the “Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” Agreement.
The Agreement for “Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” was signed on February 29, 2020, in the capital city of Qatar, Doha, between U.S. and Taliban.
During the virtual meet, Pompeo and Mulla Baradar discussed about the 400 Taliban prisoners that are still held captive by the Afghanistan Government. The delay has stalled the so-called intra-Afghan talks envisioned in the agreement to start by March 10, 2020.
The meeting s comes after a militant assault on a prison complex in Eastern Afghanistan ended on Monday, i.e., August 3, 2020, after a 20-hour gun battle, which killed 29 people and wounded 48. The attack at the prison in Jalalabad City was claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It began on Sunday night when a brief cease-fire between the Afghan Government and the Taliban was still in place.
As per the agreement, the US. will reduce its troops from 12,000 to 8,600 in Afghanistan within the first 135 days of the deal. As of now, 14,000 U.S. troops and approximately 17,000 troops from 39 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies and partner countries are stationed in Afghanistan.
The deal also provides for a prisoner swap programme where 5,000 Taliban prisoners and 1,000 Afghan security force prisoners would be exchanged by March 10, 2020. Besides, the U.S. will also lift sanctions against the Taliban and work with the United Nations (U.N.) to lift its separate sanctions against the group. The 4-page agreement states that the Taliban will take steps to prevent any group or individual, including Al-Qaeda, from using the territory of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the U.S. and its allies.
The President of Afghanistan – Ashraf Ghani had said that he has no authority, under the Constitution of the country, to release the remaining prisoners.
The Kabul administration, led by Ashraf Ghani, was not part of the “Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” Agreement, but largely agreed to honour its elements, owing to the pressure from U.S.
Ghani has refused to release the remaining prisoners as these were involved in serious crimes, including a massive 2017 bombing against the German Embassy and other deadly attacks.
Ashraf Ghani has called a traditional assembly of tribal elders from across the country known as Loya Jirga, to consult on whether to free those remaining on the list.
