Afghan Taliban look on after handing over their weapons as they join the Afghan government's reconciliation and reintegration program in Herat province, February 17, 2013. PHOTO: REUTERS
PESHAWAR: Afghanistan has asked Pakistan to hand over five top militant commanders imprisoned in the country. According to the government in Kabul, the militants can play a key role in Afghan for peace and reconciliation.
Adviser to the Afghan President on reconciliation and peace Affairs Muhammad Hanif Atmar recommended the names on the sidelines of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York last month, an Afghan journalist told The Express Tribune.
According to the adviser, he had handed over a list to Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif comprising 35 commanders, five of whom have a say in the Taliban Shura and could play a role for peace in war-ravaged Afghanistan.
Meetings between the two sides on the sidelines of the UNGA, followed by the recent visit of army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to Kabul paved the way for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s visit to Islamabad in the near future.
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Another Afghan interior ministry official present at the Kabul meeting revealed names of the five commanders, including co-founder of Afghan Taliban Mullah Ghani Baradar, senior members of the so-called Quetta Shura Mullah Ahmadullah Nani, Mullah Sammad Sani, and Mullah Suliman Agha who was arrested from a seminary in Quetta’s Satellite Town along with four others on October 11, 2014.
The two sides had agreed in principle to ink an agreement in the next session in Islamabad to exchange prisoners jailed on either side of the border.
However, the two neighbouring countries do not have a formal agreement in place for the exchange of prisoners.
“Pakistan had also shared its concern with Afghan president about insurgency in Fata and Balochistan, with Kabul assuring that their soil will not be used against the brotherly country,” an interior ministry official who was part of the delegation told Afghan journalists.
Civil and military leaders will also sign an agreement to inform each other if one of the countries initiates a military operation along the border.
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