The United States has lifted a $10m reward for information leading to the arrest of a major Taliban leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, an Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs spokesperson says, reports Al Jazeera.
Despite the announcement on Saturday, the FBI still lists the reward on its website, saying Haqqani was “Believed to have coordinated and participated in cross-border attacks against United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan”.
The move comes after the Taliban on Thursday released a US citizen who had been kept in captivity for two years.
The release of George Glezmann, who was abducted while travelling as a tourist in Afghanistan in December 2022, marks the third time a US detainee has been freed by the Taliban since January.
In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Glezmann’s release represented a “positive and constructive step”. He also thanked Qatar for its “instrumental” role in securing the release.
The Taliban has previously described the release of US detainees as part of its global “normalisation” effort.
The group remains an international pariah since its lightning takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021. No country has officially recognised the Taliban government although several countries continue to operate diplomatic facilities in the country.
The Taliban takeover came as former US President Joe Biden’s administration oversaw a withdrawal outlined by the first administration of President Donald Trump.
The US president had negotiated with the Taliban in 2020 to end the war in Afghanistan, and he agreed to a 14-month deadline to withdraw US troops and allied forces.
The agreement was contentious for leaving out the Western-backed Afghan government, which was toppled during the chaotic US exit from the country in 2021.
Haqqani, the son of a famed commander from the war against the Soviets, was head of the powerful Haqqani Network, a US-designated “terror group” long viewed as one of the most dangerous armed groups in Afghanistan.
It is infamous for its use of suicide bombers and is believed to have orchestrated some of the most high-profile attacks in Kabul over the years.
The network is also accused of assassinating top Afghan officials and holding kidnapped Western citizens for ransom, including US soldier Bowe Bergdahl, released in 2014.
Haqqani had continued to be on the US radar even after the Taliban takeover. In 2022, a US drone strike in Kabul killed then-al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. The house in which al-Zawahiri was killed was a home for Haqqani, according to US officials.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
