Around 30 Taleban fighters have surrendered to the US military in Afghanistan as part of an amnesty offer aimed at bringing members of the ousted regime in from the cold, a top US official said Monday. Major General Eric T. Olson, the number two US commander in the war-torn country, said the mid-level Taleban had taken advantage of an offer to lay down their arms and return to their villages without facing prosecution.
"We've accepted into the allegiance programme about 30 mid-level Taleban officials," he told a press conference in the capital Kabul, without giving details on when the militants had given themselves up.
The 30 Taleban gave themselves up in response to the US military's so-called allegiance programme, which is paving the way for a similar olive branch expected to be held out by the Afghan government in the near future.