An American hostage held by the Taliban in Afghanistan has been released as part of a prisoner swap.
Kevin King, and Australian hostage Timothy Weeks, were abducted three years ago while working at The American University in Kabul and held in an undisclosed location. They were released in exchange for three ranking Taliban prisoners. The swap was confirmed by both the Taliban and the government of Pakistan, which facilitated the deal.
Pakistan says it hopes the prisoner swap will get the U.S. and Taliban back to the negotiating table and eventually lead to a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. (NBC News)
Hot Takes:
- It’s unclear where the freed hostages are, but they are said to be in U.S. custody.
- It’s still a little scary to think that three terrorists had to be set free to secure the professors’ release.
- The U.S. had a tentative deal with the Taliban to start withdrawing troops, but talks broke down in September after a U.S. soldier was killed.