The Taliban have walked out of landmark talks which were supposed to help pave the path to peace in Afghanistan.
A spokesman for the militant group said the first face-to-face discussions with the government had proved “fruitless”.
Talks have broken down over a prisoner swap agreed between the US and Taliban.
It was meant to be a step towards ending the war, but the Taliban say Afghan officials are trying to delay the release, while officials say the militants' demands are unreasonable.
According to Matin Bek, a member of the government's negotiating team, the Taliban wanted the release of 15 commanders believed to be involved in what were referred to as big attacks.
“We cannot release the killers of our people,” he said.
But the Taliban spokesman accused President Ashraf Ghani's administration of delaying the prisoner release “under one pretext or another”.
The government says it's willing to release up to 400 low-threat Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture in return for a considerable reduction in violence.
The prisoner swap – which formed part of the US-Taliban deal signed in February that did not involve the government – was supposed to be a gesture of trust between the two sides.
However, Mr Ghani refused to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners under the terms of the US deal, saying the Afghan government had…
