Ex-Taliban commander pleads guilty in US
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WASHINGTON:
A former commander in the Taliban has pleaded guilty to taking an American journalist and two Afghan nationals hostage in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2008 and 2009, the US Justice Department said on Friday.
Haji Najibullah, 49, an Afghan national, who was charged in 2020 with kidnapping David Rohde, a former Reuters correspondent, faces life in prison.
He previously pleaded guilty in the case. Najibullah also changed his plea to guilty in a case related to the deaths of US troops in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2009.
The Justice Department pointed to examples of Taliban fighters -- under Najibullah's leadership - targeting the US military in Afghanistan.