Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has announced the release of 2,000 Taliban prisoners following the Taliban's announcement of a ceasefire on the eve of Eid.

The Taliban announced a three-day ceasefire with  Afghan government, which took effect on Sunday during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

The ceasefire comes in the wake of an increase in attacks on government troops by hardline Islamist groups in recent weeks.

President Ashraf Ghani has welcomed the announcement and said Afghan forces would respect the terms of the ceasefire. He also said that the release of Taliban prisoners was done in good faith and that he was ready for further talks.

President Ghani today began the process of releasing 2,000 Taliban prisoners in response to a ceasefire by the Taliban, a presidential spokesman wrote on Twitter.

After the Taliban and the United States signed a troop withdrawal agreement in February, Afghan and international observers expected a reduction in violence between the two sides.

But further talks have stalled on prisoner exchanges, leading to an increase in attacks on government forces in recent weeks.

The attack on a maternity ward in the capital, Kabul, earlier this month was widely condemned. Although the Taliban denied any involvement, the attack prompted President Ghani to resume offensive operations against the Taliban as well as other groups.

Last month, the Taliban rejected the government's call for a ceasefire throughout Afghanistan for the entire month of Ramadan. He said it was "unreasonable" and stepped up attacks on Afghan forces.

Earlier this month, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, signed a power-sharing agreement that ended months of political uncertainty.

The agreement, brokered by the United States and the Taliban, aims to bring peace to Afghanistan and end the 18-year war that US-led international forces have launched to oust Islamist groups. Of was

Under the agreement, US President Donald Trump has said he plans to withdraw 5,000 US troops from Afghanistan by the end of May and meet with Taliban leaders in the near future.

If the Taliban supports the agreement, US and NATO troops will withdraw from the country within 14 months.

The United States has also agreed to work to lift sanctions against the Taliban and separate UN sanctions against the group.

In return, the Taliban said they would not allow al-Qaeda or any other extremist group to operate in areas under their control.

But US officials have also agreed to a prisoner exchange as a first step in talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, who are still technically at war. 
The two sides held historic talks for the first time in early April, but the Taliban walked out.

The Afghan government says the militants' demands are unjustified. A member of the administration's negotiating team said the Taliban wanted the release of 15 commanders who had been involved in major attacks.

But a Taliban spokesman accused the government of delaying his release on "some pretext".