Taliban rejects Afghan government's offer to first release 1,500 prisoners

The Taliban on Wednesday rejected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's plan to release initial 1,500 prisoners first and then 3,500 later as talks progress.

Also Read: Afghanistan government to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners if violence eases

"We never agreed to any conditional release of prisoners," Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban based in Doha, told Reuters.

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The Taliban said the terms set by Ghani were against the February 25 accord. The insurgent groups says the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners by the Afghan government aspart of the deal to kick-start the intra-Afghan deal.

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The US-Taliban pact had set US troop withdrawal within 14 months provided the Taliban keeps peace in the region and opens talks with the Kabul government. However, after President Ghani rejected the deal to release prisoners, the Taliban declared attacks on the government, although it announced foreign troops won't be attacked.

The release of prisoners which was seen largely as a confidence-building measure has now run into trouble with both sides sticking to their part of the bargain.

The Afghan government had earlier said that the government would gradually release 5,000 Taliban prisoners starting this week if the insurgents significantly reduce violence even as the US announced it had started pulling out troops from two bases in Afghanistan.

Afghan government's spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said: "The government will release 1,500 Taliban prisoners as a gesture of goodwill starting Saturday, with another 3,500 to be freed after negotiations begin."