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Pakistan to Release Senior Taliban Commander


Pakistan says it will will release a key jailed Afghan Taliban leader on Saturday.

Pakistan's Foreign Office said in a statement on Friday that Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's former second-in-command, was being freed to "further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process."

Baradar was arrested in Pakistan in 2010. Afghanistan and the United States have been asking Pakistan to release Baradar.



In a recent visit to Islamabad, Afghan President Hamid Karzai urged Pakistan to facilitate talks between his government and Taliban by releasing imprisoned Taliban leaders.

Baradar has emerged as a figure who Afghanistan and Pakistan believe could help to persuade his former comrades to lay down their weapons and engage in peace talks.

Pakistan has so far released 33 Taliban prisoners from its custody since last year.
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