This handout photo taken Oct. 15, 2014 by the Afghan National Directorate of Security shows Taliban prisoner Anas Haqqani, a senior leader of the Haqqani network, in Kabul.
VOA: Diplomat: Afghan Prisoner Swap for American, Australian Did Not Occur
WASHINGTON - The planned exchange of two senior Taliban commanders and a leader of the Haqqani militant group for an American and an Australian kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2016 has not taken place, a diplomat and a former Afghan official said on Wednesday.
The diplomat, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, declined to provide any details about why the planned exchange, which Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced on Tuesday, did not occur.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Afghan embassy in Washington. "We hope the Taliban immediately releases the hostages," a spokesman for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
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Update #1: Taliban still holding Western hostages: spokesman (France 24)
Update #2: Taliban prisoner swap for Australian Timothy Weeks did not occur, Afghan official says (ABC News Online)
WNU Editor: These are top Taliban commanders. You would think the Taliban would want to make the exchange.
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