Afghanistan to release three senior Taliban prisoners: Ghani

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced Tuesday that three high-ranking Taliban prisoners would be released, as talks press on to free two Western professors kidnapped by the militant group in 2016. "We have decided to conditionally release three Taliban prisoners who were arrested outside the country with the help of our international partners and have been in Bagram prison in the custody of the Afghan government for some time," Ghani said in an announcement at the presidential palace.

While he did not specify the fate of the Western hostages -- an Australian and an American -- Ghani noted that "their health has been decorating while in the custody of the terrorists".