Afghan govt to swap three jailed Taliban leaders for American, Australian captives
(WorldNews Pakistan)

KABUL: Afghanistan will release two senior Taliban commanders and a leader of the Haqqani militant group in exchange for an American and an Australian professor who were kidnapped in 2016, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Tuesday. According to a British wire service report, the government’s decision to free Anas Haqqani and two other Taliban commanders in a prisoner swap was taken in the hope of securing direct talks with the Taliban, which has hitherto refused to engage with what it calls an illegitimate “puppet” regime in Kabul. “In order to pave the way for a face-to-face negotiations with the Taliban, the government has decided to free Taliban prisoners in...