Taliban reject Afghan offer to free 1,500 prisoners before talks

The Taliban on Wednesday rejected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's offer to release 1,500 insurgent prisoners ahead of peace talks, saying it wanted 5,000 captives freed before opening negotiations

Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen told AFP that "5,000 prisoners should be released as a trust-building measure, and that this should be before the intra-Afghan talks"

Any changes amounted to "a violation" of the deal struck between the insurgents and Washington in Doha last month, he added.