Taliban ‘ready for talks’ with Afghanistan’s government after Eid holiday – spokesman

The Taliban has said it is ready for talks with Afghanistan’s political leadership after the Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Adha at the end of July. The movement also offered to hand over the last of the government prisoners in a week’s time, providing the government frees the last of its Taliban prisoners, AP reports.

The offer was made by the Taliban’s political spokesman Suhail Shaheen in a tweet published late on Thursday. The group earlier appointed the son of the movement’s founder to head its military wing and designated powerful leadership council members to its negotiation team.

On Friday, the High Council for National Reconciliation in Kabul said it was still working through the Taliban’s prisoner list. The council was created in May to manage peace efforts with the Taliban. It seemed unlikely the government would free the remaining Taliban prisoners before the Muslim holiday.

Shaheen’s statement was the first offer at a timeline for the negotiations. However, he demanded the prisoner release be completed first and refused any substitutes to the list of prisoners submitted by the Taliban.