Taliban resume talks with Afghan government

Taliban announced resumption of talks with Afghan government Thursday following recent confidence building measures for advancing the peace process such as US President Donald Trump's renewed resolve for military withdrawal, Taliban's unilateral and temporary ceasefire on Eid-ul-Fitr and release of 900 prisoners of the armed group by Kabul.
After almost two months of pause in negotiations between the technical teams of Taliban and Afghan government on prisoners' swap, the armed group on Thursday announced that they have sent a five-member team to Kabul for holding talks with the Afghan government authorities on issues related to the prisoners.
"A 5-member mtechnical team of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan [Taliban] for the release of prisoners has been sent to Kabul for verification and identification of prisoners. The said team is tasked with addressing technical issues of the prisoners," said Suhail Shaheen, Taliban's spokesperson for its Doha political office, in a tweet.
Taliban had suspended the technical level dialogue with the Afghan government on April 7, 2020, accusing Kabul administration for 'intentionally' delaying the process of releasing prisoners in light of the February 29, 2020 US-Taliban peace deal.
Under the agreement, Afghan government is required to release 5000 Taliban inmates while the armed group pledged to free 1000 prisoners of the Kabul administration. So far, Kabul has freed about 1,500 Taliban prisoners, while the armed group has released around 300 Afghan security forces.
The latest development comes following the release of 900 Taliban prisoners by the Afghan government on Tuesday on Ghani's directives in response to Taliban's three-day ceasefire during Eid-ul-Fitr.
This was welcomed by the Taliban with Suhail Shaheen tweeting "the release of 900 prisoners by the other side is a good progress. The Islamic Emirate [Taliban] will release a remarkable number of prisoners soon, inshallah."
On Tuesday, President Trump renewed his commitment for full military withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying: "We are acting as a police force, not the fighting force that we are, in Afghanistan".
"After 19 years, it is time for them [Afghans] to police their own country. Bring our soldiers back home but closely watch what is going on and strike with a thunder like never before, if necessary!" Trump stated in a tweet on Wednesday.
"The Trump administration might be thinking of complete withdrawal of the troops from Afghanistan, but the situation on the ground cannot be ignored, as it will require a significant reduction in violence if not a permanent ceasefire," said Tahir Khan, a senior analyst and expert on Afghan affairs.
He said that the Taliban have so far refused a permanent ceasefire but they are willing to reduce violence significantly, adding that the resumption of technical talks between Taliban and Kabul is a positive development and with this the deadlock has ended.
"The process of prisoners exchange is necessary to be completed by both the sides, as it will pave the way for intra-Afghan negotiations," he said, adding that it is a complicated process and the two sides need to exercise prudence with a view to advance the peace process.