Afghan government releases 100 Taliban

By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - The Afghan government on Wednesday released 100 Taliban prisoners following a presidential decree, despite the insurgents' withdrawal from intra-Afghan peace talks.
National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib held a teleconference with ambassadors of the coalition forces briefing them on the release of prisoners.
“Afghanistan is prepared to move forward on prisoners and peace, (...) the technical teams had made progress on difficult issues," he said in a statement.
The announcement came as the prison swap, a stepping stone for the proposed intra-Afghan peace talks, remains in limbo with the insurgents threatening to scale up attacks.
Earlier this week, the insurgents pulled their technical team out of talks blaming the government for the delay.
Officials, however, blame insurgents for insisting upon release of at least 15 notorious terrorists convicted for large scale attacks.