Tolo News: The Taliban has demanded the release of 80 prisoners, including Anas Haqqani and Hafiz Rashid–two leaders of the Haqqani Network–for a swap with two US professors, sources close to the Taliban said on Wednesday. The sources said a prisoner exchange would offer a restart to the US and Taliban peace talks that were halted
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty January 5, 2019 Afghan special forces have rescued 12 people from a Taliban prison in the country’s south on the same day that the militants kidnapped a group of 15 government employees in the west, officials said. The National Directorate of Security (NDS), the country’s main intelligence agency, said in a
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan August 20, 2018 KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — The Taliban has reportedly rejected an offer by the Afghan government for a cease-fire, with militant commanders vowing to carry on their attacks after Taliban fighters in the north seized nearly 200 hostages from a convoy of passenger buses. A Taliban spokesman said Taliban leader
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 14, 2018 ISLAMABAD — The Afghan Taliban is demanding freedom for a member of the militant Haqqani network along with other insurgent prisoners in exchange for the release of an American professor and his Australian colleague who were kidnapped two years ago, officials revealed Tuesday. Kevin King, 60, and Timothy Weeks,
Ayaz Gul VOA News October 30, 2017 ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Taliban claims the health condition of an American hostage, Kevin King, is rapidly deteriorating and he urgently needs better medical care. The 60-year-old King and his Australian colleague, Timothy Weeks, 48, were teaching at Kabul’s American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) before they were kidnapped at gunpoint
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 3, 2017 Fears for Western hostages being held by the Taliban arose on June 2 after the Taliban threatened retaliation if the Afghan government executes Taliban prisoners in revenge for this week’s devastating truck bombing in Kabul. Media have reported that President Ashraf Ghani has signed orders to execute 11
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty January 11, 2017 The Afghan Taliban has released a video showing an American and an Australian who were kidnapped in August. The two men, identified as Kevin King and Timothy Weekes, were abducted near the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, where they worked as teachers. In the video sent to
Ayaz Gul VOA News December 21, 2016 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — An Afghan Taliban official said Wednesday that it released the video of a kidnapped American-Canadian couple and their two children to renew attention on their detention and press their governments to meet the group’s demands. The video surfaced on Monday, showing American Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian