Free Republic

The prospects for the peace deal brokered between the United States and the Taliban looked grim less than 24 hours after it was announced, as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani balked at releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners as specified in the agreement, and the Taliban responded by announcing it would resume “operations” against the Afghan government. Ghani said on Sunday he has not agreed to release any Taliban prisoners. The peace deal called for 1,000 government security forces held by the Taliban to be released in exchange for 5,000 Taliban fighters imprisoned by the government.