"In order to further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process, the detained Taliban leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, would be released tomorrow," said a brief statement issued by Pakistan's Foreign Office this evening.
Baradar has been in the custody of Pakistani security agencies since his capture in Karachi in 2010. He will be the highest ranking Afghan Taliban prisoner freed so far.
Though Islamabad has freed 33 Afghan Taliban commanders since last year, Baradar's release was the most anticipated.
His release was personally sought by Karzai during a recent visit to Islamabad. Analysts are skeptical whether Baradar will be able to influence the peace process, but the Afghan government thinks he could lead talks with the High Peace Council.
Baradar was once considered the most influential Taliban leader after Mullah Muhammad Omar. One of the four commanders who founded the Taliban movement, he was the leader responsible for the day-to-day campaign against US and NATO troops until his capture by a joint team of CIA and Pakistani intelligence operatives.
The US initially hailed his arrest as a blow to the Afghan insurgency but found out later that Pakistani agencies allegedly captured Baradar to scuttle the secret peace talks.
Born in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, Baradar fought in the war to expel Soviet troops from Afghanistan in the 1980s. When the Taliban came to power in 1996, Baradar became deputy defence minister.