The Afghan government and the Taliban both see the start of the intra-Afghan negotiations conditional to the release of their prisoners from each other's prisons.

The Presidential Palace reiterated that one of the fundamental conditions to start the talks with the Taliban is that the group first needs to ensure the release of over 20 members of Afghan Special Forces who are in Taliban’s custody.

“The fundamental condition is that the number of soldiers of the security and defense forces who are with the Taliban should be released,” said Dawa Khan Menapal, a deputy spokesman to President Ashraf Ghani.

But, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Haneef Atmar has expressed hope that the talks will start sometime next week and that the prisoners release is no longer a hurdle in way of the negotiations.

https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/govt-taliban-see-prisoners%E2%80%99-swap-key-intra-afghan-talks