Prisoner exchange between Taliban, Afghan Government yet to take place

The prisoner exchange between the Taliban group and the Afghan government has not happened yet, a source close to the group told Sputnik.

President Ashraf Ghani on Monday announced that the government would release Anas Haqqani, Abdul Rashid and Haji Mali Khan in exchange for two lecturers of an American University.

According to the source, the Taliban prisoners were brought to Qatar, but had yet to be handed over to the group.

Asadullah Wahid, a lecturer at Kabul University who had gone to Qatar for a meeting with the Taliban leaders, told Sputnik that the United States did not want the exchange to be covered by the media.

"They [the prisoners] have not been handed over to the Taliban, but there is information that the Taliban prisoners have arrived in Qatar," Wahid said, confirming the information gathered from the Taliban source.

The lecturers will be transferred to Pakistan first, and then to Qatar for exchange.

The scholars hail from the United States and Australia.