Anas Haqqani, a leader of the Taliban’s Haqqani militant faction and two other commanders, have been released and arrived in Qatar, home to Taliban political leadership, reports said on Tuesday.
The militant figures are part of a prisoner swap for two university professors, American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks who were kidnapped by the Taliban in 2016.
Reuters, citing Taliban sources, said that the hostages would be released later on Tuesday.
“Our three prisoners had been freed on Monday night,” an unidentified Taliban sources was quoted as saying by the news agency.
“Soon after their release, they were flown to Doha and handed over to the political office in Qatar.”
The plan to release the militant figures had been announced by President Ashraf Ghani on November 12.
However, the government postponed their release saying the Taliban had not meet the conditions. US Ambassador John Bass cited attacks in Kabul and Logar for the delay.
On Monday, Ghani discussed their release with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US National Security Adviser Robert C. O’Brien
Pompeo reiterated US support for Ghani’s decision and committed to work closely together to address violence if the President’s decision does not produce the intended results, according to a statement from the US Department of State.
“Both sides agreed a reduction in violence is necessary for intra-Afghan negotiations on a political settlement to be successful,” according to the statement.
