Taliban Group Expects To Start Intra-Afghan Talks With Kabul In August - Spokesman

DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 31st July, 2020) The Taliban movement expects to start peace talks with the Afghan government in August following the release of the prisoners, Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Qatar, told Sputnik on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Shaheen said that the Taliban would release the remaining Afghan prisoners before the Muslim sacrifice festival of Eid al-Adha, which starts Friday, as a goodwill gesture, thus completing the release of 1000 prisoners.

"I hope that the intra-Afghan talks will begin in August after all our prisoners are released," the spokesman said, adding that the Kabul government's data on the release of 4,600 Taliban prisoners is incorrect, as only 4,400 detainees have been freed so far.

Earlier in the day Shaheen said that the movement completed freeing all Afghan prisoners from the government's list after releasing the remaining 82 prisoners, taking the total to 1,005.�

The Afghan government and the Taliban committed to releasing each other's prisoners � 5,000 and 1,000, respectively � as part of a peace deal negotiated by the group and the United States in the Qatari capital of Doha on February 29, with the outlook to launch intra-Afghan talks.