Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday vowed to soon complete the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners.
“With this action, we look forward to the start of direct negotiations with the Taliban in a week’s time,” the president said this while addressing the fourth Senior Officials Meeting in Kabul.
“We call on the Taliban to join us at the negotiating table and to concluding promptly there a permanent comprehensive ceasefire,” Ghani said. “Commitment to a ceasefire during the coming ‘Eid will be an indication of things to come.”
The president said that 3,560 government forces were killed and 6,781 more were wounded between 29 February (date of US-Taliban deal signing) and July 21.
