NEW: Taliban say they freed two hostages, an American and an Australian, in Afghanistan after release of three top insurgents.
The hostages — American, Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks — were released in southern Zabul province, ending their more than three years in captivity.
Their freedom came hours after the Afghan government freed three Taliban prisoners and sent them to Qatar. They included Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of the Taliban’s deputy Sirajuddin Haqqani, who also leads the fearsome Haqqani network. King and Weeks, the two captives held by the Taliban were abducted in 2016 outside the American University in Kabul. The following year, the Taliban released two videos showing the captives. A January 2017 video showed them appearing pale and gaunt. In the later video, King and Weeks looked healthier and said a deadline for their release was set for June 16 that year.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien made separate calls to Ghani on Monday to discuss the prisoners’ release, Ghani’s spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.’s 18-year war and allow for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
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