KABUL, April 12: The Taliban will release 20 Afghan government prisoners it was holding, a spokesman of the Islamist militant group said on Sunday, the first handover since the beginning of a peace process.

“Today, 20 prisoners of the Kabul administration will be released by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and handed over to ICRC in Kandahar,” the spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, said on Twitter.

Since Wednesday, the Afghan government has released 300 Taliban prisoners as part of a swap after a February pact between the United States and the Taliban that offers the best chance yet of ending the 18-year U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan.

 
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