Pakistan frees three senior Afghan Taliban leaders

The number of freed Afghan Taliban since November has now crossed fifty.

Those quietly freed include Azeem Agha, former head of Kandahar Passport office, Muhammad Amin, Sardar, Nematullah, Inamullah, Janat gul, Adam Khan, Salahuddin, Syed Mehmood, Engineer Mehmood and Hayatullah.

In September, Pakistan had released senior Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.  

While Pakistan has said Baradar has been released, the Taliban claim that their former commander remains under house arrest and has not returned to his family.  

The last week visit by the five-member delegation of the Afghan High Peace Council took place after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accepted a request by Afghan President Hamid Karzai seeking access to Baradar.

Afghanistan believes Baradar is a key figure for its efforts to kick start the stalled peace process as NATO combat troops prepare to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014.  

The commander had been in custody in Pakistan since his capture in Karachi in 2010.

He was once considered the most influential Taliban leader after Mullah Omar.

Baradar was captured after Pakistani intelligence agencies were reportedly angered by his failure to inform them about his secret talks with the Afghan government.