Residents in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Tuesday called for transparency in the expected peace negotiation talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, as the government’s peace negotiating team prepares to depart for Doha on Thursday where they are expected to sit with the Taliban negotiating team to discuss bringing peace to the country.

The  Afghan citizens expressed hope that the talks will be carried out in an open environment, not behind closed doors.

A day after President Ashraf Ghani signed a decree to release the last batch of Taliban prisoners ahead of the intra-Afghan negotiations, critics blamed him for delaying the process, saying that it could have been done earlier and that many casualties could have been prevented, considering the Taliban had pledged to reduce violence after the start of the talks.

President Ghani's position was originally against the release of Taliban prisoners, which are a pre-condition for the start of direct talks with the Taliban, according to the US-Taliban agreement signed on Feb. 29.