The Taliban have announced the release of 251 prisoners from central prisons in Kandahar and Parwan, while the sentences of 491 other prisoners have reportedly been reduced.
The Central Kandahar Prison Administration said in a statement that 192 prisoners were released to mark the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. The administration also announced that the sentences of 384 additional prisoners had been reduced.
Meanwhile, the Taliban’s Directorate of Prison Reform Affairs in Parwan announced that 59 prisoners had been released from the province’s central prison. The sentences of another 107 prisoners were also reportedly reduced.
Combined figures from the two provinces indicate that 251 prisoners have been released, while 491 others have received sentence reductions.
The Taliban authorities presented the measures as part of commemorations marking five years since the group returned to power in Afghanistan. Prisoner releases and sentence reductions have previously been announced on significant religious and national occasions.
The announcements provide limited details about the identities of the released prisoners, the offenses for which they were imprisoned, or the extent of the sentence reductions. It was also not immediately clear whether all of those released were serving criminal sentences or whether political and security-related detainees were included.
The move comes as the Taliban continues to oversee Afghanistan’s prison system following its return to power in August 2021.