Kabul (Agencies): The Afghan government on Wednesday released at least 100 low-risk Taliban prisoners, officials said.
Jawed Faisal, spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Security adviser, said the 100 were released from the base in Bagram, near Kabul.
The Taliban, however, said they have yet to verify if those released were on the list they handed over to Washington during negotiations.
The prisoner release is a critical first step to intra-Afghan negotiations aimed at bringing an end to decades of war in Afghanistan. A US-Taliban deal signed in February also calls for the Taliban to free 1,000 government personnel they hold hostage.
Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen in a message said the insurgent group doesn’t know who the government is releasing without verification. He said the Taliban withdrew a technical team to oversee the releases because of delays by the government.