PESHAWAR (Pakistan)/KABUL • The Afghan Taleban released two Western hostages yesterday, Afghan government officials said, completing a delayed prisoner swop for three of the militant group's commanders and raising hopes of a revival of efforts for peace.
American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks were kidnapped in August 2016 from outside the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, where both worked as professors.
The US-backed government's decision to carry out the swop is seen as key to securing direct talks with the Islamist militants, who have, until now, refused to engage with what they call an illegitimate "puppet" regime in Kabul.
"The two professors are safely freed and are being taken care of now," said a senior Afghan official, on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
He did not provide further details.
Earlier yesterday, three Taleban sources familiar with the deal, including one in Qatar, home to the political leadership of the Afghan Taleban, said the three Taleban commanders who are part of the swop were freed from jail in Afghanistan.
"Soon after their release, they were flown to Doha and handed over to the political office in Qatar," said a Taleban leader in Afghanistan, who declined to be identified because he is not authorised to speak publicly about the deal.
Spokesmen for the Afghan government and the United States embassy in Kabul were not immediately available for comment.
On Nov 12, President Ashraf Ghani said Afghanistan would free Anas Haqqani - a senior figure in the eponymous Haqqani network, a militant faction of the Taleban responsible for some of the worst violence in recent years - and two other Taleban commanders. But the swop was abruptly postponed, with the Taleban then shifting its hostages to a new location.
The Haqqani network has in recent years carried out large-scale attacks on Afghan civilians. It is believed to be based in Pakistan and is part of the Taleban in Afghanistan.
Mr King and Mr Weeks were last seen in a 2017 hostage video looking dishevelled and pleading with their governments to secure their release.
The prisoner exchange could help nudge forward efforts to end the Afghan war.
The US and the Taleban were for most of the past year discussing a plan for the withdrawal of US troops in exchange for Taleban security guarantees.
But US President Donald Trump halted the talks last month, despite his hopes of ending America's longest war, following the death of a US soldier and 11 other people in a Taleban bomb attack in Kabul.
Before the talks were broken off, the US and the Taleban had both said they were close to reaching a deal.
REUTERS
