Government was reluctant to release the last 100
The Afghan Ghani government was not a signatory to the original Taliban US agreement and balked at releasing all of the 1500 for several months. They claimed earlier that they could not release the last 100 because they were too dangerous. The Taliban on their part claim many of the last 100 were actually minor figures. However, after protracted negotiations all those prisoners listed have now been released.
The way now clear for intra-Afghan talks
The prisoner exchange which also saw the Taliban release 1,000 Afghan prisoners is now complete. This clears the way for intra-Afghan talks. The Taliban has continued attacking the Ghani government while the prisoner exchange was not complete. Talks should begin quite soon although no dates have been released.
A recent article notes that an Afghan official noted that the final release could be complete by September 2 and that a delegation from the Afghan government would then immediately travel to Doha the capital of Qatar to begin negotiations with the Taliban.
Ghani opposes power sharing
The talks would tackle the problem of power sharing with the Taliban. However, Ghani is opposed to any such sharing. Abdullah Abdullah is actually in charge of the talks but Ghani could throw a monkey wrench into the process.
Ghani said recently: “Do not be afraid of peace because peace does not mean a power sharing political deal. Those who think they are achieving their goals with threats should think again because the people support the republic.” However, Ghani also said that everyone wanted a reduction in violence and then an end to it. He also claimed that no matter how much enemies tore things down that Afghans would build their country back up. A release of 400 Taliban was recently authorized by a Loya Jirga as described in a recent appended video.
