US wants urgent prisoner swap between Afghan government, Taliban amid coronavirus outbreak

The United States on Wednesday called on both the Taliban and the Afghanistan government to move ahead with their prisoner swap deal as the novel coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, triggering economic collapses and creating health crises.

US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad tweeted that both sides should move forward with the prisoner release "as soon as possible".

"The United States would like to see prisoner releases begin as soon as possible in line with the U.S.-Taliban agreement. No prisoners have been released to date despite the commitment to do so expressed by both sides," he tweeted.

Saying that "time is of the essence" Khalilzad said that the coronavirus makes the prisoner release urgent. "We are committed to do our part and after consultation with all relevant sides," he tweeted.

Last month, the United States and the Taliban signed a historic peace agreement according to which the Taliban agreed to stop carrying out attacks against foreign forces. In exchange, the US agreed to withdraw its troops from the country and end the 19-year-long conflict between the two sides.

The Taliban and Afghan government were asked to release each other's prisoners so that the agreement could move forward. One phase of the deal includes intra-Afghanistan talks between the Taliban and other stakeholders of the restive country which will determine how power will be shared in the country once US troops leave the region.