U.S. officials confirm release of senior Taliban prisoners
May 7th, 2012
10:50 AM ET

U.S. officials confirm release of senior Taliban prisoners

Up to 20 high-level insurgent prisoners have been released from NATO custody in Afghanistan over the past two years in an effort to boost peace negotiations with the Taliban in various regions of the country, according to U.S. officials.

The insurgents, held at the jointly-run NATO-Afghan detention facility of Parwan, are considered "bad guys," said one U.S. official who did not want to be identified discussing a sensitive issue. Their release was undertaken, the official said, often at the request of the Afghan government. In all cases, they were assessed as unlikely to rejoin the insurgency.

The official added that the Taliban detainees had been in the maximum security Parwan detention center “for a reason” – but that NATO "does not release anyone when there is a high likelihood they will rejoin the insurgency." The official said he was aware of only two releases in the last nine months.

Some previously released Afghan detainees, especially from the U.S.-run detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have allegedly rejoined the insurgency, suggesting such programs are not without risk.

The U.S. official said the releases occur “when officials determine that the benefits significantly outweigh the risks.”

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Filed under: Afghanistan • National security • NATO • Security
soundoff (11 Responses)
  1. RUFFNUTT ( BABY POLAR BEAR POTTY TRAINER )

    hopefully they injected them with aids while they were sleeping... now they can go home and spread it all over..

    May 7, 2012 at 10:53 am | Report abuse |
  2. saywhat

    Its not that we do not make deals.
    Seeking an exit strategy we have been doing that for some time now.

    May 7, 2012 at 10:54 am | Report abuse |
  3. know hunger

    The high level insurgents are the best poppy farmers.

    May 7, 2012 at 11:02 am | Report abuse |
  4. hamsta

    @ saywhat YOU ARE WRONG! this was done as a ransom demand by an american hostage of al qaeda. your wimpy president thinks he can negotiate with terrorists.

    May 7, 2012 at 11:15 am | Report abuse |
    • saywhat

      No @hamsta.
      Peace negotiations with Talibans have been going on for quite some time and releasing the detainees is part of the process.
      President Obama is doing what he can to extricate US from the quagmire his predecessor got it into.

      May 7, 2012 at 12:48 pm | Report abuse |
  5. ANDRE HIMES

    A new demonic BLACK AMERICA has arisen from both the black antebellum and hiphop nation and is base on stereotypical images of low class, poverty stricken and criminally prone blacks and replace the BLACK AMERICAN HUMAN POPULATION who were exterminated during the black holocaust 1968-1993-2001. The white feminists were the most vocal in demanding the deportation of native born blacks to AFRICA under immigration laws and were the most vocal in their support for racial profiling in which many BLACK AMERICANS were arrested and were either martyred within the prison system or were deported to africa ,where many of them were martyred there and were buried in mass graves in both the SUDAN and in the CONGO . it was this act as well as the rise of the hiphop nation is what has contribute to the black holocaust

    May 7, 2012 at 12:24 pm | Report abuse |
  6. banasy©

    Taliban is NOT Al Quaeda.
    That is a different story altogether.

    May 7, 2012 at 12:55 pm | Report abuse |
  7. chrissy

    @ hamsta, like it or not hes YOUR president to! Unless of course you wish to relocate to another country.

    May 7, 2012 at 1:04 pm | Report abuse |
    • banasy©

      @chrissy:
      I thought the same thing, but when I came back, you's already said it...GMTA.

      May 7, 2012 at 1:08 pm | Report abuse |
  8. chrissy

    Sometimes you just get tired of hearing the same old thing day in and day out. And i can only recite the Serenity prayer just so many times ya know.

    May 7, 2012 at 1:24 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Nick

    Well I guess this is the Muslim version of fast and furious and we all saw how well that went down, and the chump AG Holder is still in that seat which says a lot. This is yet another disaster in foreign policy- you take a terrorists word at claiming he is changed and will not commit violence? Since when does this country negotiate with TERRORISTS? Once again weakening us as a country- and for the morons claiming this is the Taliban and Not Al Qaeda- I guess the Muslim Brotherhood is also ok since they are not Al Qaeda, and I assume everyone forgot about CAIR convicted of supporting Hamas by the government but now all of a sudden a peaceful group and an ACLU for the Muslims.
    Would you really try to rationalize with someone that is willing to blow up innocent people in the name of religion? And same as the Arab Spring which is and will turn out to be a massive nightmare for everyone as the Brotherhood takes over and WWIII will start with Israel and you know how badly Imam Obama despises Israel, sorry if you are raised as a Muslim you are taught to hate Jews and he has made that very clear. But everyone make sure to vote for this moron again.

    May 8, 2012 at 1:21 pm | Report abuse |
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