ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday announced the release of seven senior Afghan Taliban figures to help the peace process in war-torn neighbour Afghanistan, the foreign ministry said.
"In order to further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process, Pakistan is releasing seven Taliban detainees namely Mansoor Dadullah, Said Wali, Abdul Manan, Karim Agha, Sher Afzal, Gul Muhammad and Muhammad Zai," it said in a statement.
"These releases are in addition to 26 Taliban detainees released during the last year," it added.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai was in Pakistan for two days last week and met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Karzai said Afghanistan expected Pakistan to provide "opportunities or a platform for talks between the Afghan High Peace Council" -- Kabul's official negotiators.
Afghan government peace negotiators accompanying Karzai earlier called for the release of the most senior Taliban figure detained in Pakistan, former deputy leader Abdul Ghani Baradar.
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