Taliban say ready for peace talks next month if prisoner swap complete

The Taliban are prepared to hold peace talks with the Afghan government after a religious holiday next month as long as an ongoing prisoner swap had been completed, the insurgents said Thursday.

The group was "ready to begin intra-Afghan negotiations immediately after Eid in case the process of the release of the prisoners is completed," Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on Twitter.

He added that the Taliban were ready to release the remaining Afghan security force prisoners in their custody, as long as Kabul freed all insurgent inmates "as per the list already delivered" to authorities.