Timothy Weeks now supports dialogue with the militant group as a way to end the years-long Afghan conflict.
The escape of a notorious militant and the strong-arming of the state by a radical cleric has brought Pakistan's fight against militancy into question.
The exchange for one American and one Australian imprisoned by the militant group was announced by the Afghan government on November 12 but was delayed when the commanders did not land in Qatar earlier.
The two men were abducted outside the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, where they worked as teachers.
Taliban demands release of and names Anas Haqqani as member of team holding direct talks with US, as Russian and US envoys to Afghanistan plan to discuss Afghanistan situation in Ankara later this month.
Official estimates of the Afghan Taliban's manpower are wildly off the mark and the Taliban is likely as strong now as it was at the start of the Afghan war in 2001.
Pakistan's prime minister has said his country is not someone's 'hired gun', following US demands for Islamabad to do more in the battle against militancy.
The death of Jalaluddin Haqqani is not operationally significant, but the man's life contains within it the story of the last three decades of war in Afghanistan.
The Taliban say the Afghan Haqqani network founder, Jalaluddin Haqqani, has died after years of ill health.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's promised 'New Pakistan' is tied, he says, to peace in neighbouring Afghanistan. The odds are against him.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack in Kabul that also wounded 31people at the entrance to Afghanistan's rural rehabilitation and development ministry.
The missiles hit a house, killing two men suspected of being militants from the Haqqani network. The strikes occurred in FATA, a semi-autonomous tribal region.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel for all latest in-depth, on the ground reporting from around the world.
Copyright © 2021 TRT World.
Like
Follow