Prisoners’ release

A deal would be critical in easing several security and socioeconomic problems created by the Afghan war

Afghanistan’s parliament has released the last 400 Taliban prisoners it was holding, paving the way for peace talks between the government and the Taliban. A report in this newspaper says that removing this final hurdle could lead to peace talks being opened in the neutral venue of Doha, Qatar, as soon as next week. Later talks may move to Europe, with the goal of an interim power-sharing deal. The Taliban — who refused to hold talks until their demand for the release of 5,000 prisoners was met — have now expressed their willingness to begin negotiations within three days of the prisoners’ release. The prisoner releases were a condition that the Taliban gave the Americans for talking with the Afghan government when the US-Taliban peace deal was signed in February.

The US remains on course to meet its withdrawal target. After initial pushback, President Ashraf Ghani relented and began releasing most of the prisoners. But there was another snag over these last 400 men, many of whom were involved in some of the most audacious attacks and violent crimes against American and Afghan forces. Eventually, Ghani convened a Loya Jirga, or a grand assembly of elders, to reach a consensus with the rest of the country’s leadership. Around 3,200 delegates participated, and despite some opposition, the government was given the green light to release the men in the greater interest of peace.

There is now a cause for cautious optimism. The Taliban have held true to their agreement with the US, and there is no reason to doubt that they would honour a future deal with the Afghan government. Unfortunately, we cannot predict how long the negotiations will be. For Afghanistan’s sake, we hope they are short and fruitful, with both sides willing to give results in the interest of peace. The alternatives, unfortunately, would be the addition of even more years to the continuing war.

For Pakistan, which has been a key middleman for the two warring parties, an expedited peace deal would be a gift. After decades of suffering from the fallout of the situation in Afghanistan, a deal would be critical in easing several security and socioeconomic problems created by the continual war.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2020.

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