US warns to place higher bounty on IEA leaders than Osama

KABUL (Pajhwok): The US Secretary of State has threatened to place a higher bounty on top leaders of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) if it is confirmed that they are holding more American hostages than previously reported.

In a post on X, Marco Rubio wrote: “Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported. If this is true, we will have to immediately place a VERY BIG bounty on their top leaders, maybe even bigger than the one we had on Bin Laden.”

According to reports, the US government had offered a bounty of $25 million for information about the Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 attack.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has not yet commented on Marco Rubio’s statement.

Last week, the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said an Afghan prisoner (Khan Mohammad) in the United States was released from prison and sent to the country in exchange for American citizens as a result of long and fruitful negotiations between the IEA and the United States.

The State Department did not disclose the number or names of the Americans released, but it wrote that Khan Mohammad, who was sentenced to life in prison by American courts and was serving his sentence in California, was captured in Nangarhar province nearly two decades ago.

American media reported that two Americans, Ryan Corbett and William McKinty, were released in exchange for Afghan prisoner Khan Mohammad.

sa