Ahead of the festivities commemorating the end of Ramadan, the Taliban government in Afghanistan declared the release of almost 2,500 prisoners, according to AFP.
The exact number of prisoners held by various security bodies in Afghanistan is unclear, but a spokesman for the Office of Prison Administration told AFP on Saturday that between 11,000 and 12,000 convicted prisoners were in the authority’s custody.
The move is a customary practice ahead of Eid-el-Fitr celebrations, which are expected to begin on Sunday.
The supreme court said on X that “2,463 prisoners who were eligible for amnesty were released, while 3,152 others received sentence reductions” as per a decree by the Taliban supreme leader.
The UN has raised concerns about the growing prison population in Afghanistan, noting that more detainees are being admitted than released.
In a report from October, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan highlighted the strain on prison facilities, warning that the increasing number of arrests and lengthy jail sentences were putting unsustainable pressure on the system.
Last year, the Taliban released around 2,800 prisoners as part of the same end-of-Ramadan amnesty tradition.
