A truce called for the Muslim holiday of Eid has held, and the insurgent group is raising hopes it may be extended.
The Afghan government announced Tuesday the release of 900 more Taliban prisoners. It was a goodwill gesture aimed at convincing the insurgent group to extend a three-day truce, set to expire at midnight, which has quelled all major violence across the country.
More broadly, leaders in Kabul were hoping the latest large prisoner release might breathe life back into the flailing peace process launched with the bilateral agreement struck earlier this year between Washington and the Taliban. The Trump administration, just as keen to see the peace process move forward so it can pull U. S. troops out of the war, welcomed both the prisoner release and the ceasefire.
« The government is releasing up to 900 Taliban prisoners from across Afghanistan today to advance the cause of peace, including the continuation of the bilateral ceasefire and the immediate start of direct negotiations, » Javid Faisal, spokesman for the office of Afghanistan’s National Security Advisor, said Tuesday. « The extension of a ceasefire is important, and we are ready to extend it. »
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Taliban would agree to extend the truce, but a spokesman for the group’s political office in Qatar called the prisoner release « good progress, » and said the Taliban would « release a remarkable number of prisoners soon » in response, « god willing.
