Afghanistan to exchange 3 Taliban militants for two varsity professors

KABUL, Nov 12: Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday announced his intention to release three senior Taliban members in exchange for two scholars of the American University in the Taliban’s custody. In a video address, broadcast at around 1000 hrs [05:30 GMT], Ghani said that Anas Haqqani, Abdul Rashid, and Mali Khan will be released and flown to Qatar in exchange for two prisoners ? lecturers from the United States and Australia ? to be released by the Taliban. The deal is part of the government-Taliban peace talks, he added.
US national Kevin King and Australian national Timothy Weeks were kidnapped by the Taliban in 2016 in Kabul, where they worked at the American University.

(UNI)