White House spokesman says Taliban not a terrorist group

White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz has said that the Taliban is not a terrorist group.

According to the Washington Times, Schultz argued during Wednesday's briefing that the United States can negotiate prisoner swaps with Taliban members, because the Taliban is not considered a terrorist group.

When asked by an ABC News reporter whether the Jordanian government's trade with the Islamic State was similar to the United States trading five Taliban members for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, Schultz said this was highly discussed at the time and that prisoner swaps are a traditional end-of-conflict interaction that happens, the report said.

Schultz further said that the Taliban was an armed insurgency, whereas Islamic State was a terrorist group, adding that the US does not make concessions to terrorist groups.