Taliban free university professor hostages after more than three years
American and Australian university teachers held hostage by the Taliban for more than three years have been freed under a prisoner swap.
Kevin King, a 63-year-old American, and Timothy Weeks, a 50-year-old Australian, were handed over in a Taliban controlled area of Afghanistan in return for three leading militants.
The exchange of high-profile captives is hoped to rekindle stalled talks to find a political settlement to the long-running Afghan conflict.
Three leading Taliban commanders, including a senior figure in the notorious Haqqani faction, had earlier been flown to Qatar to be handed over to the insurgents' political office in Doha.
The two professors at the American University of Afghanistan were seized in August 2016. Special forces raids had repeatedly come close to freeing the men, as hostage videos showed they were in declining health.
A statement said the university “welcomes the news of the release of our colleagues”.
“ The [university] community shares the relief of the families of Kevin and Timothy, and we look forward to providing all the support we can to Kevin and Tim and their families. We wish to extend our gratitude to all involved in the release of our colleagues.”
Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan's president, announced the swap last week, saying he hoped it would “pave the way for a face-to-face negotiations with the Taliban”.
The two men were released to US forces in a southern district of Zabul province and flown off by helicopter. Ten Afghan soldiers were also freed in the deal.
A Taliban statement said the release of its three commanders, Anas Haqqani, Haji Mali Khan and Hafiz Abdul Rasheed was a “positive step”.
“These actions are a step forward in good-will and confidence building measures that can aid the peace process.”
The Taliban spent more than 12 months meeting American officials in Doha to try to hammer out a deal allowing US troops to leave Afghanistan, until Donald Trump broke off talks in September. The insurgents have until now refused to hold direct talks with Mr Ghani's government, which they say is only a puppet US regime.
