The armed Taliban released additional 20 prisoners of the Afghan government on Monday, a spokesman for the group took to Twitter.
Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the office of the Taliban in Qatar, said the group had released additionally 20 inmates of the Afghan government from its custody in the northern Kunduz province.
As a part of the prisoner swap, the armed Taliban earlier announced it had released 655 prisoners of the Afghan government, and the Afghan government freed nearly 4,000 of the Taliban prisoners it was holding.
Under a peace accord struck between the United States and the Taliban, the relevant sides are committed to put efforts to release prisoners as a confidence-building measure.
The United States and the Taliban singed a peace pact in February 29 under which the Afghan government was required to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners and for the insurgents to release 1,000 pro-government captives in return.
Recently, Reuters citing sources from both sides, reported that the Afghan government and the Taliban movement would begin direct talks as soon as they resolve their differences over the release of the Taliban’s “most dangerous” prisoners.
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