Taliban Administration Frees 286 Prisoners from Herat Jail

The Taliban administration said that the cases of 565 prisoners held in Herat prison were reviewed, resulting in the release of 286 people, while reduced sentences were ordered for another 279 inmates.

According to Qari Saif-ul-Omar Herawi, the prison’s education and training official in Herat, 35 women were among those freed. He said the prisoners were released after legal procedures were completed and their cases were reviewed.

The Taliban administration carried out the move to mark the fifth anniversary of what it called “liberation.” It did not provide further details about the types of cases involving the released prisoners or the extent of the sentence reductions for the others.

Herat is one of Afghanistan’s major provinces in the west, and the province’s central prison is considered one of the main detention facilities in the country’s western region.