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