Criticism over US-Taliban prisoner swap deal

The release of five Taliban prisoners in exchange for a US soldier has drawn criticism from some Afghans.

According to the Reuters, Afghans say the released prisoners, who had been held at America’s naval base at Guantanamo Bay since 2002, are dangerous. They fear that the former prisoners will reestablish ties with terrorist networks.

The Pentagon had categorized the five Taliban prisoners as “high-risk” and “likely to pose a threat”.

According to the US military, two of the five have been implicated in the murder of thousands of minority Shia Muslims in Afghanistan.

Human Rights Watch has said that one of the released prisoners, Mohammad Fazl, could be prosecuted for war crimes for his involvement in the mass killing of Shia Muslims in Afghanistan in 2000 and 2001 as the Taliban was consolidating their control over the country.

Mail Online reports that “according to his US government file, Fazl ‘would likely rejoin the Taliban’ and resume ‘hostilities against US and Coalition forces in Afghanistan’ if released.”

The US freed the prisoners in exchange for the release of its army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who held by the Taliban since 2009.

A Taliban source in the Pakistani city of Quetta has told AFP that the five had been officials in the Taliban regime when the militants were in power in Afghanistan.

A top official at Afghanistan’s spy agency has been quoted as saying that the released prisoners “will definitely go back to fight, if health-wise they are able to go.”

Some Afghan officials believe that the release will encourage the militants.

“This act will boost the Taliban’s morale and encourage them to fight harder to capture foreign soldiers. Now they are confident that their efforts won’t be wasted,” said Afghan army colonel Asadullah Samadi.

On the other hand, the US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has hoped that the deal with the Taliban could lead to breakthroughs in reconciliation with the Taliban.

“Whether that could lead to possible new breakthroughs with the Taliban, I don’t know. Hopefully it might.”

Following the 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001, Washington invaded Afghanistan under the name of fighting terrorism. It’s been fighting Taliban militants since then.

Nearly 2200 US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the invasion.