Taliban officials: 3 Taliban in Qatar for prisoner swap

Taliban officials tell AP that 3 released Taliban commanders arrived in Qatar for swap for American, Australian hostage

Taliban officials have told The Associated Press that three Taliban prisoners released by Kabul have been flown to Qatar for a swap for an American and an Australian hostage held by the insurgents.

The whereabouts of the two hostages — American, Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks — was not immediately known on Tuesday.

The three Taliban prisoners, including Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of the Taliban’s deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, who also heads the fearsome Haqqani network, were to have been freed more than one week ago by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.