Kabul, Nov 22: At least 60 suspected Taliban and Taliban sympathisers were released from a prison in northern Afghanistan, a spokesman for northern Commander Abdul Rashid Dostum said today. The men, who had been held since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, were released today from Shibergan jail in Jawzjan province as part of an amnesty linked to the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, said the spokesman, Faiz Zaki. Zaki said the men were all low-ranking fighters. The prisoners, including 20 Pakistanis, were handed over to representatives of President Hamid Karzai`s central government. Dostum is a deputy defense minister in Karzai`s government. Several thousand Pakistanis crossed into Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban ahead of the 2001 war. Many were captured and ended up in jails run by anti-Taliban after northern alliance troops overran the religious militia.
Human rights groups have criticised the conditions under which they have been held, particularly at Shibergan, where malnutrition and disease ran rampant. Most have never been charged or convicted of any crime.

Bureau Report