KABUL – The United States and the Afghan government have released 10 members of Haqqani network on Thursday, a day after the third round of peace talks between American officials and Taliban concluded in the United Arab Emirates.
Anas Haqqani, the son of Haqqani network’s founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, is among the prisoners freed under “Afghan Roadmap”, according to media reports.
Anas, one of the key leaders of the militant network, was captured with Hafiz Rashid another leader of the network in October 2014 in Bahrain and then sent to Qatar before being transferred to Kabul.
He was traveling in the Persian Gulf to visit the brother of Hafiz Rashid, Nabi Omari, who had been released from Guantanamo Bay prison in exchange for the only US soldier in Taliban captivity.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/pakistan-hosts-peace-talks-between-us-and-taliban-in-uae/
In the next phase of the peace process, Afghan Taliban will release several prisoners from the United States and the European Union.
The third round of direct talks between the Pakistan-brokered United States and Taliban ended on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi of United Arab Emirates.
https://twitter.com/US4AfghanPeace/status/1075650387590504448
Ambassador Khalilzad posted an online statement in Twitter after the conclusion of the meeting in Abu Dhabi, saying he had productive meetings in UAE with the Afghan and international partners to promote intra-Afghan dialogue towards ending the conflict in Afghanistan.
The development comes two days after Pakistan had arranged crucial peace talks between the United States and Afghan Taliban in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – in a latest push to end the 17-year-long conflict in Afghanistan.
Representatives from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE also attended the talks.
Earlier this month, the US envoy had also met Prime Minister Imran Khan and given US President Donald Trump’s message of seeking Pakistan’s support for a peaceful resolution to the Afghan conflict.
This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly
