US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad on Monday welcomed prisoner releases by the Afghan government and the Taliban and urged them to accelerate it.

"The release of prisoners is an important step in the peace process and the reduction of violence," Khalilzad said on Twitter.

"Both sides should accelerate efforts to meet targets specified in the US- Taliban agreement as soon as possible," he said. "The potential for COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons poses a real threat and all the more reason to move urgently."

The Afghan government released 361 Taliban prisoners from Bagram jail over the last four days under a presidential decree to free a total of 1,500. The Taliban released 20 Afghan government prisoners on Sunday.
The US-Taliban deal stipulated the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and 1,000 held by the group by March 10 when intra-Afghan talks were scheduled to begin.