Taliban say conditional prisoner release order by Afghan govt is against deal with U.S.

The conditional prisoner release order announced by the Afghan government is against the U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in Doha last month, a spokesman for the group said on Wednesday.

"It is properly explained in the peace accord that first 5,000 prisoners would be freed and then the Afghan dialogue would be initiated," Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban in Doha told Reuters by phone. "We never agreed to any conditional release of the prisoners. If someone claims this, it will be against the peace accord that we signed on February 29."