Taliban seek release of Anas Haqqani

ISLAMABAD: Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of the Afghan Taliban’s deputy chief Sirajuddin Haqqani, tops the list of the prisoners whom the insurgent group wants freed in exchange for two foreign hostages, Taliban sources said on Thursday.

American University of Afghanistan’s professors — Kevin King from the US and Timothy Weeks from Australia — were kidnapped in August last year.

In their latest video, the academics said the Taliban want a swap of their prisoners at Bagram and Pul-e-Charkhi jail and urged US President-elect Donald Trump to negotiate with the insurgent group for their release.

Anas was captured by the US security officials after he visited Qatar in October 2014, along with another leader, Hafiz Rashid. These Taliban leaders, arrested from Bahrain airport, were later handed over to the Afghan authorities.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2017.