Many delegates said it appeared that the Afghan government had already given in to U.S. pressure to release the remaining prisoners. Over the past couple of months, officials gave varied reasons as to why they could not release the remaining prisoners. Those criminals, however, were included on lists of prisoners whose release the Taliban demanded. It said 156 of the 400 prisoners had been sentenced to death, 105 were convicted of homicide, 34 of kidnapping and 51 of narcotics trafficking. As the president himself said, he is not authorized to release these 400 prisoners because they have committed major crimes and they already have been sentenced.”“When the president can’t release them, how can the Jirga release them?"

Source: New York Times August 09, 2020 07:20 UTC