American and Australian to be freed by Taliban in rare exchange

World Today

A rare prisoner swap in Afghanistan. An American and an Australian in exchange for two senior Taliban commanders and a leader of the Haqqani militant group. 

President Ashraf Ghani made the surprise announcement Tuesday. 

The Taliban had kidnapped the two professors from the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul back in 2016. 

According to the FBI, they were forcibly removed from a vehicle while traveling.

Ghani says the prisoner swap could pave the way for direct peace talks, something the Taliban has rejected in the past.