Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has approved the release of 12 Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture to bolster the peace process, the Dawn daily reported on Sunday.
The newspaper cited sources as saying that the 12 ‘low-profile suspected militants’ held by security agencies could be released in the next couple of days to meet a key demand of the Taliban.
The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leadership recently handed over a list of prisoners to the government negotiating team, the report said.
“None of those to be released is important,” the report said.
It added that the talks could resume soon after Sharif’s return from China, where he is currently visiting.
The TTP on Friday presented two conditions for the talks to continue — the immediate release of non-combatant prisoners and the declaration of a peace zone where the militants can freely move around.
