Taliban release 2 Western hostages

Kandahar, November 19

The Taliban released two Western hostages in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday and handed them over to the US forces more than three years after they were abducted in Kabul, insurgent sources and the police said.

The release of American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, both professors at the American University in Kabul, comes a week after President Ashraf Ghani announced that Afghanistan would free three high-ranking Taliban prisoners in an apparent swap that he hoped would help jumpstart peace talks.

“Around 10 am today, two American University professors were released in Nawbahar district of Zabul province. They were flown out of Zabul by American helicopters,” local police sources said.

“We released the professors and are now expecting the Kabul government and Americans to release our three prisoners as soon as possible,” said Taliban sources. — AFP