Afghan President Offers Recognition of Taliban as Political Group - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has offered to recognize the Taliban movement as a political group in order to involve it in the peace process in the conflict-torn country, the TOLO news broadcaster reported.

According to the broadcaster, the Afghan president stated that the movement should accept a proposal to be engaged in political talks in order to ensure peace.

Kabul will reportedly exert efforts to work on a list of Taliban prisoners for a potential release, to provide the members of the groups and the members of their families with passports and to remove sanctions imposed on the leaders of the movement.

Earlier in the day, the Kabul Process conference brought together representatives of around 25 countries and three international organizations in order to discuss the issues of peace and security in Afghanistan.

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Ghani's statement comes two weeks after a source told the AP news agency that Kabul was in secret talks with the group, wishing to put an end the Taliban insurgency which has lasted for 17 years, since the US overthrew the then-ruling group in 2001.

Afghanistan has long suffered from political, social and security-related instability because of simmering insurgencies, including that of the Taliban, but also lately because of the actions of the Daesh terror group (outlawed in Russia).