KABUL prisoners under a prison swap deal.
Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban commander who is in close contact with the insurgent group, on Monday told media that 11 Taliban prisoners were released from the Bagram jail in return for three Indian engineers in Taliban custody.
Ex-governors for Kunar and Nimroz provinces — Sheikh Abdul Rahim and Mualvi Rashid — were among the insurgents released, the Taliban had said.
The engineers, working at a power station, were among seven people kidnapped in Bagh-i-Shamal village near Pul-i-Khumri in May 2018. One of them was released earlier this year.
Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, the Meshrano Jirga chairman, told today’s session of the upper house that the Senate was not against prisoners’ exchange, but on the condition the deal was based on government’s lines and contact.
“We are worried that if the US did it arbitrarily and the government is not onboard, it is a secret deal and a game with Afghanistan’s fate, the government should have a clear stance in this regard,” he said.
Muslimyar said if the US deal with the Taliban was arbitrary, the Afghan government should share the truth with the public.
He called the release of 11 Taliban prisoners without consulting the government as ‘dangerous’. Addressing the US, he said, “Don’t force the Afghans into rebellion.”
Mohammad Alam Ezdyar, first deputy chairman of the upper house, said, “I do not know whether the government was aware about the release of 11 Taliban prisoners from Bagram after Islamabad negotiations or not, the release of these prisoners poses a serious threaten to the country’s sovereignty.”
“When we opposed (Taliban-Khalilzad) talks in Islamabad, more violence was unleashed on us. Even the government sacked foreign ministry spokesman, but no one raised voice over the release of Taliban prisoners,” he argued.
He said both the palaces, (The presidential palace and the CEO) was yet to react to the prisoner swap deal.
He hoped the government would not keep silence and the nation must be kept in dark about any decisions made regarding the country’s fate.
Seddiq Seddiqi, a presidential spokesman, and Omaid Maisam, the CEO spokesman, refused to comment about the issue.
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