Afghanistan frees 75 Hizb-e-Islami prisoners

The Afghan government released at least 75 Hizb-E-Islami prisoners from Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul on Thursday.

The prisoners were released in accordance with the peace agreement signed between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar last year.

The process of releasing the prisoners had been delayed for months after the human rights organisations criticised the Afghan government for releasing the prisoners, who had been involved in insurgency incidents that killed thousands of people in the last few years.

Hizb-e-Islami claims that there are 3,000 of its members being held in Afghan prisons.

According to Article 11 of the peace agreement, it stated: "After assessment of their documents, all prisoners of Hizb-e-Islami who are accused of political and security crimes and are exempted from 'the right of people'" (a legal term which is used for those who don't carry any complaint from members of the public in a court).

It was the third batch of Hizb-e-Islami prisoners to be released by the government.

The first batch of prisoners was released last year in May, which included 55 people. Around 13 more were released later in the same year.

--ANI