3 Taliban commanders exchanged for American, Australian hostages abducted in Afghanistan

Afghan security forces transport Taliban prisoners

(Image credit: Noorullah Shirzada/AFP via Getty Images)

published 19 November 2019

The Afghan government exchanged three Taliban commanders Tuesday for two Western hostages, American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, according to Afghan and Taliban officials. Weeks and King, both professors at the American University of Kabul, were abducted in 2016 outside of Kabul. "The two professors are safely freed and are being taken care of now," an Afghan official told Reuters. A Taliban official told The Associated Press that the two Western hostages were released in an area of southern Zabul province largely under Taliban control.

The Taliban did not release King and Weeks until the three Taliban prisoners were flown to Qatar and released. Among the three freed commanders was Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's deputy chief and head of the brutal Haqqani network. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, a former hostage negotiator, separately called Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday to discuss the prisoner exchange, Ghani's spokesman told AP. The swap was meant to restart U.S.-Taliban peace talks that broke down in early September.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.