KABUL: Pakistan has handed over 27 Afghan prisoners to the Afghangovernment, Interior Minister Wais Barmak said on Thursday, Pajhwok Newshas reported.
Pakistan Foreign Office said on Tuesday more than two dozen suspectsbelonging to the Taliban and their affiliated Haqqani network have beenextradited to Afghanistan.
The handover took place in November last year just weeks after the maidenvisit of Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to Kabul.
Senior officials in Kabul once again accused Islamabad of providing shelterto the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network following the string of terroristattacks over the last few days in Kabul,.
Interior Minister Barmak confirmed to Pajhwok the delivery of 27 prisonersfrom Pakistan but said they were not members of the Taliban or HaqqaniNetwork but common Afghan refugees who had been released.
Afghanistan Ambassador to Pakistan Hazrat Omar Zakhelwa after receivingnews about the transfer of 27 militants to Afghanistan tweeted “Thiscertainly is news to me! It would be a huge step forward in our importantbilateral relations if this indeed happens.”
“Pakistan continues to push any suspected TTA & HN elements to prevent themfrom using our soil for any terrorist activity in Afghanistan,” ForeignOffice spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said in a tweet.
Barmak, who travelled to Pakistan along with spymaster Masoom Stanikzaiwith a message from President Ghani, said they clarified to Pakistaniofficials that the inmates handed over to them were common people.