Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his powerful brother are among a number of senior Afghan figures to be accused of ordering the release of high-ranking Taliban fighters so often that the insurgents now run a commission to secure their freedom.
According to Reuters news agency, the practice is so widespread as to counteract the deterrent effect of capture, and pits Mr Karzai and his coterie directly at odds with the Nato strategy in Afghanistan.
Even though Mr Karzai and his Western allies espouse a political solution to the war in Afghanistan, analysts say that releasing prisoners in such large numbers actually reduces the chances of a settlement.
Michael Semple, a Harvard University fellow with more than 20 years' experience in Afghanistan and extensive contacts with the Taliban, said that the Taliban prisoners' commission has "a sufficiently high success rate to boost Taliban fighters' confidence. The threat of arrest has lost its deterrent value as they are confident of being sprung." Some of the releases are said to be carried out in exchange for payment.
In one particularly damning example, Mr Karzai is reported to have intervened on behalf of a Taliban commander from north-western Afghanistan called Dastigir after village elders swore he would renounce violence. Dastigir promptly returned to the battlefield, united feuding Taliban factions, and was responsible for attacks that led to the deaths of at least 32 policemen. Dastigir was killed in 2009.
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