Government announces to releases Anas Haqqani

KABUL (SW) – President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday confirmed releasing three key Taliban leaders including Anas Haqqani.

In a televised address to the nation, President Ghani said the government would conditionally release Haqqani in exchange for the release of two foreign lecturers of the American University of Afghanistan. He said the health of these two foreign teachers is critical.

American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks were teaching at the AUAF in Kabul before they were seized at gunpoint in Kabul in August 2016. 

The NDS forces announced arrest of Haqqani in 2011 from an undisclosed location.

This comes as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, last month promised a ‘good news’ in regard to the release of the AUAF teachers following his meeting with the U.S. President Donald Trump.

ENDS