Two days after the government started the release of the 400 high-value Taliban prisoners, an official from the High Council for National Reconciliation said some countries are opposing the freeing of six of the inmates that are accused of killing citizens of those countries.

The United States, France and Australia are the countries that are opposing the release of some of the prisoners, according to sources within the government, but reports confirm the position of Australia and France only.  

President Ashraf Ghani signed the decree to release the prisoners a week ago, a process that was first approved by the Loya Jirga, the grand council of at least 3,400 delegates.

A spokesman of the council, Fraidoon Khwazoon, said the release of the prisoners will continue and the Afghan government is in talks with the three countries to prevent any challenge for the peace process and to maintain its relations with these nations.  

Reuters also reported that France that has asked the Afghan government not to release Taliban fighters convicted of killing French citizens.  

Before the start of the process, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said last week he had lobbied for a former Afghan army soldier, who went rogue and killed three Australian colleagues, to stay in jail, according to a report by Al Jazeera.  

“There is some criticism against (the release) of some prisoners, a limited number of prisoners, but we hope that intra-Afghan negotiations should not be delayed. The Afghan government is trying to overcome the issue in a way to maintain the current opportunity and our relations with the international community,” Khwazoon said.  

Sources within the government said that the Taliban has not released more than 20 Afghan commandos but sources within the Taliban said the group will not release them until the release of their 400 prisoners. The Taliban has also said that they will not attend the intra-Afghan talks until the release of 400 prisoners is completed, said the sources.  

“The Afghan government is claiming that their 20 commandos are in Taliban custody. Meanwhile, Australia has criticized the release of the three (Taliban) prisoners and France has has listed six others. The US is in talks with France and Australia to convince them and to open the way for the release of the prisoners,” said Khalil Safi, former country director of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, an international crisis group.  

Critics said such positions against the release of the six prisoners is a new hurdle in the way of the intra-Afghan negotiations, which are expected to be held in Doha.  

“I am sorry that we are in a country that freeing prisoners involved in the killing of 10 to 15 foreigners is criticized but in Afghanistan we have lost thousands of our youth, but we released 5,000 individuals,” said Nilofar Ibrahimi, an MP.  

This comes as US Special Representative for Afghanistan’s Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, in a tweet on Sunday morning condemned a recent attack that injured Fawzia Koofi, a member of the negotiation team, and urged the Afghan government and Taliban to start the intra-Afghan negotiations as soon as possible.  

“I call on all sides who seek peace to not only condemn the attack but to accelerate the peace process and start intra-Afghan negotiations as soon as possible,” Khalilzad said.  

He called the attack on Fawzia Koofi, a member of the negotiation team, “a cowardly and criminal act by those who seek to delay and disrupt the Afghan peace process.”  

He added that Koofi is “an important voice, a member of the inclusive Islamic Republic negotiating team and has been a strong advocate of women's rights. We are relieved she escaped without serious injury.”

Last week, the consultative Loya Jirga, the grand assembly of Afghan elders, approved the release of the 400 Taliban prisoners, a step that was seen as a key push for the start of the intra-Afghan negotiations.  

According to government data, out of the 400 prisoners in question, 156 of them have been sentenced to death, 105 of them are accused of murder, 34 of them are accused of kidnapping that led to murder, 51 of them are accused of drug smuggling, 44 of them are on the blacklist of the Afghan government and its allies, six of them are accused of assorted other crimes, four are accused of unspecified crimes.  

The list of 5,000 prisoners was given to the Afghan government by the Taliban to be released ahead of the intra-Afghan negotiations, which are now expected to be held in Doha.