US lifts $10m reward for major Taliban leader Haqqani

According to an official from the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs, the US has lifted the $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a significant Taliban leader.

The FBI continues to list the reward on its website, claiming that Haqqani was “believed to have coordinated and participated in cross-border attacks against United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan” despite the announcement made on Saturday.

A US citizen who had been held in captivity for two years was released by the Taliban on Thursday.

George Glezmann’s release marks the third time the Taliban has let a US detainee leave their country since January. He was abducted while on a vacation in Afghanistan in December 2022.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Glezmann’s release a “positive and constructive step” in a statement. He also thanked Qatar for its “instrumental” contribution to the release.

The Taliban has previously referred to the US detainees’ release as a part of its global “normalization” effort.

Since its lightning-stricken invasion of Afghanistan in August 2021, the organization has remained a pariah worldwide. Although several nations still maintain diplomatic missions there, no country has officially recognized the Taliban government.

The first administration of President Donald Trump’s administration oversaw a withdrawal, which the Taliban took oversaw.

In order to end the Afghan War, the US president had reached an agreement with the Taliban in 2020. He also agreed to a 14-month deadline for the withdrawal of US troops and allies.

The Afghan government, which was supported by the West, was left out of the deal because it had been ousted in 2021 by the US.

Haqqani, the son of a well-known Soviet commander, was in charge of the powerful Haqqani Network, a US-designated “terror group” that had long been regarded as one of Afghanistan’s most dangerous armed organizations.

It is infamous for using suicide bombers, and it is thought to have planned some of Kabul’s most well-known attacks over the years.

The network is also accused of assassinating senior Afghan officials and holding Western citizens who had been kidnapped for ransom, including US national Bowe Bergdahl, who was released in 2014, at large.

Haqqani remained on the US’s radar even after the Taliban took control. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul in 2022. According to US officials, Haqqani lived in the house where al-Zawahiri was killed.