Afghanistan to release 175 Talibans from jail

Afghan government has announced their decision of releasing 175 Talibans on eve of holy month of Ramadan. Asking the Taliban to shun violence, the council called on the warring groups to begin 'intra-Afghan talks'.

Kabul: In a goodwill gesture, the Afghan government on Friday announced that it will be releasing 175 Talibans on eve of the holy month of Ramadan.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said, "I ask the Taliban to prepare themselves for talks inside Afghanistan. We are ready to provide the environment for negotiations inside the country. We want Afghanistan to be the host for its own peace."

Afghan council called an urgent ceasefire and also proposed the withdrawal of foreign troops from the war-torn country. President Ghani convened the council of more than 3200 participants, known as Loya Jirga, to hammer out a common strategy for future negotiations.

Loya Jirga urged the government and the Talibans to declare a permanent ceasefire with the arrival of Ramadan.

Asking the Taliban to shun violence, the council called on the warring groups to begin 'intra-Afghan talks'.

The government is now going to pave the wave to bring the Taliban political office from Qatar to Afghanistan. Withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan was also among the key demands in the council.

Earlier, Taliban had refused all the negotiation opportunities with the government and called them US's puppet. The militant group has been insisting on the withdrawal of foreign forces before.