Peace Talks Between Taliban, Afghan Government Set To Begin Monday

Afghanistan government officials on Friday said that planned peace talks with the Taliban would begin Monday, marking the first direct talks between both sides. The two sides originally planned to begin talks in March, but disputes over prisoner transfers caused the talks to be repeatedly delayed until issues were resolved.

Prisoner disputes were rooted in the withdrawal agreement signed in February between the U.S. and the Taliban. Under the agreement, the Taliban would release 1,000 Afghan prisoners, while the Afghan government would release 5,000 Taliban prisoners. However, there were 400 prisoners the Afghan government said they would not release after Australia and France asked officials not to release prisoners convicted of killing their citizens.

“Foreign forces occupying Afghanistan were killed in battles,” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Al Jazeera.

“They were in Afghanistan illegally and we were fighting them. We have not raised issues of violations and thousands of our people being killed by the foreigners because we want to turn over a new leaf and work towards bringing peace to Afghanistan.

“If occupation powers insist on reviving old issues, it would hamper the peace process.”

A source for Al Jazeera said the issue was resolved after “lengthy negotiations” between Afghan, Taliban, and international officials. Under the new agreement, most of the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners will be released while a handful of high-profile prisoners will be transferred to Qatar prison so peace talks can begin.

“We had a few options for the Taliban after the objections raised by European countries created another roadblock for intra-Afghan dialogue,” the source said. “The most amicable way was to replicate what was achieved with US forces to send these inmates to a guarantor country.”

Talks will also be held in Doha, Qatar, starting on Monday.

Doha had hosted the peace talks between the U.S. and the Taliban. The Afghan government said its focus was on establishing a cease-fire while experts believe the Taliban will seek a transitional government to pave the way for a power-sharing arrangement.

If talks are successful, it would mark the end of the near 20-year conflict sparked by the U.S. invasion in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The war in Afghanistan claimed the lives of over 38,000 civilians, over 65,000 members of the Afghan security forces, between 67,000 and 72,000 Taliban fighters, over 3,500 Coalition troops, over 3,900 military contractors, and over 2,000 al-Qaeda fighters.