At least 38 militants affiliated to the Taliban have been released from a jail in Afghanistan’s Herat province, officials said on Monday.
The inmates were among the 900 Taliban detainees lodged invarious government jails, the provincial governor’s spokesman Jailani Farhadwas cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani announcedthe release of 900 Taliban detainees last week as a “good gesture” toencourage Taliban militants to hold a dialogue with the government to find anegotiated settlement to the country’s lingering crisis. The Taliban, who haverefused to hold direct talks with the government, were yet to react to thegovernment’s decision.