The Pakistani government's announcement to free more Afghan Taliban prisoners during Friday's visit of Afghan Foreign Minister Dr Zalmai Rasoul to Islamabad could give further impetus to the peace process in the war-torn Afghanistan.

Pakistan released 13 Afghan Taliban detainees, including a key military commander, last month when Afghan peace envoy Salahuddin Rabbani visited Islamabad.

The Afghan government and Taliban had welcomed Pakistan's decision and had called for the release of more prisoners to push the peace process forward.

Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Musazai told Xinhua in Islamabad that Pakistan has taken the "first practical" step towards the reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

He hoped that the release of more Taliban prisoners will encourage them to join the urgently-needed peace process as the Afghan endgame is fast approaching.

Taliban had been sensitive to the issue of their prisoners and even suspended their first direct and preliminary talks with the United States in Qatar after the Americans did not free five Taliban detainees in Guantanamo and Bagram in Afghanistan.

The Taliban had claimed that the American negotiators had previously promised to free the Taliban detainees but later backed out.

The release of Afghan Taliban prisoners in mid-November was another major step taken by Islamabad to give boost to the peace process in its neighboring country.

It was Pakistan which facilitated the group of Afghan Taliban negotiators to travel to Qatar and other countries for talks with the United States, according to Pakistani ambassador in Kabul, Muhammad Sadiq.

In April this year, Pakistan agreed with Afghanistan and the United States on a mechanism of "safe passage" for those Taliban officials who decide to join peace process. The "safe passage" for the Taliban and their families was put in place in view of complaints by the Karzai government that those Taliban who intended to join the peace process are either killed or arrested in Pakistan.

In the wake of the process of "safe passage," all freed Taliban prisoners were allowed to go to Pakistan, Afghanistan or any other country and they will neither be stopped nor arrested. They were not handed over to the Afghan government and some have rejoined families in Pakistan.

Pakistan has also agreed to an Afghan proposal to hold a conference of the religious scholars in Kabul next month to win their backing for the reconciliation process. Pakistan has also assured Afghanistan that it will facilitate contacts and urge the Taliban to renounce ties with al-Qaida.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani appealed to the Taliban, Hizb-e-Islami (Hekmatyar group) and other Afghan resistance groups to join the intra-Afghan dialogue. The Taliban have so far refused to hold talks with the Afghan government.

There are concerns about the possibility of civil war in Afghanistan if the Taliban, Afghanistan and the US could not agree on a peace accord after the withdrawal of all foreign forces in the country in 2014.

Analysts said that Washington should initiate confidence building measures to gain the trust of the Taliban so that the peace process can move forward.

The most important step by the US would be the release of some Taliban prisoners now in US administered facilities in Afghanistan and those in Guantanamo.

This approach will also silence the noise of the Taliban hardliners who strongly opposed any dialogue with the US.