'No commitment' to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners: Afghan President Ghani
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The US and the Taliban on Saturday signed a complex deal that aims to bring to an end to the longest war in America's history.
A day after the US and the Taliban signed the landmark peace deal, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Sunday pushed back against a key component of the US-Taliban deal, saying he had not committed to releasing any insurgent prisoners.
"There is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners," Ghani told a press conference.
"This is the right and the self-will of the people of Afghanistan. It could be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan talks, but cannot be a prerequisite for talks."
The US and the Taliban on Saturday signed a complex deal that aims to bring to an end to the longest war in America's history and prisoners swapping is part of the deal.
As per the deal, the US and the Taliban agreed to swap thousands of prisoners in a "confidence-building measure" set to coincide with the beginning of talks between the Taliban and the Afghan team.
"Up to 5,000 prisoners of the (Taliban)... and 1,000 prisoners of the other side (Afghan forces) will be released by March 10."
(With inputs from AFP)