Release of Taliban prisoners holds no truth: Yousuf Shah

The news about the release of 19 Taliban non-combatants by the Pakistan government was not true as none of those released was on the list given by the Taliban, TTP committee coordinator Maulana Yousuf Shah said today.
He said the government should refrain from issuing rhetorical statements and take the Taliban committee into confidence regarding the issue of prisoners' release.
Shah said none of those released was on the list of over 300 non-combatants handed over to the government by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The Interior Ministry had announced the release of 19 Taliban non-combatants on Thursday.
Shah said the Taliban committee would put forth for discussion issues pertaining to the list of prisoners and the broader agenda for peace during a meeting with the government negotiators today.

A spokesman for the ministry had said the prisoners released were non-combatant Taliban belonging to the Mehsud tribe. The ministry did not release their names.

It said three of them had been released on March 21, five on March 25 and 11 on March 28. The prisoners were arrested on suspicion or on the basis of intelligence reports.
The Taliban have demanded the release of 300 non- combatants as part of the peace dialogue held to find a solution to the decade-long violence that has claimed over 40,000 lives.
The Taliban yesterday extended the ceasefire until April 10 and said it would decide later on the future course of action on peace talks with the government.

The month-long ceasefire announced by the Taliban had ended on March 31.