U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Taliban’s political chief and lead negotiator, Mullah Baradar, to discuss the Afghan peace process on Monday.
Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said the discussions between the Taliban deputy and Pompeo was attended by the rest of the delegation also.
They spoke about the issue of Taliban prisoners whose release is “essential for commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations” Shaheen tweeted.
The Taliban want the prisoners freed according to the original list submitted by their technical team, before they join talks with the Afghan government, as per the Doha Agreement.
The U.S. State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
“Both sides talked about the inception of intra-Afghan negotiations,” Shaheen wrote.
The meeting came as President Ashraf Ghani called for a Peace Consultative Loya Jirga to decide the fate of the 400 Taliban prisoners the government considers the most dangerous.
