US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested the possibility of a “very big bounty” being placed on top Taliban leaders. Rubio also revealed that intelligence indicates the Taliban may be holding more American hostages than officially reported. [Getty]
The U.S. may place a “very big bounty” on the top leaders of the Taliban, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday, adding he was hearing that the Taliban held more American hostages than previously reported.
“Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported,” Rubio said in a post on social media platform X.
“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,” he added.
The post did not give further details or specify the number of Americans held by the Taliban.
Authorities in Kabul said in the past week that the United States freed an Afghan convicted by an American court on charges of drug smuggling and extremism in exchange for two US citizens held in Afghanistan.
Afghan officials said on Tuesday the man, Khan Mohammad, had landed in Kabul after being released.
A spokesman for the Taliban administration confirmed that two Americans were released in the exchange.
One of the Americans released was Ryan Corbett, according to a statement by his family.
Corbett had been in Taliban detention since 2022, according to the family.
US media outlets said the other American released was named William McKenty.
The Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021 following a chaotic US withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.
The International Criminal Court prosecutor said on Thursday he had applied for arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders in Afghanistan including supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, accusing them of the persecution of women and girls.
The Taliban Friday rejected to the court move, accusing the court of baseless accusations and misbehavior.
A Foreign Ministry statement condemned the ICC request.
The court was making baseless accusations against Afghanistan’s leadership at a time of peace in the country and people had “breathed a sigh of relief.”
The ministry alleged the court had turned a blind eye to decades of war and crimes against humanity committed by foreign forces and their allies. “This misbehavior further destroys the weak credibility of the said structure (ICC) and makes its status and position at the international level completely meaningless,” the statement said.
The ministry warned the court against imposing its interpretation of human rights and ignoring the religious and national values of others.
Earlier Friday, an Afghan women’s group had hailed the court’s move.
The Afghan Women’s Movement for Justice and Awareness celebrated the ICC decision and called it a “great historical achievement.”
“We consider this achievement a symbol of the strength and will of Afghan women and believe this step will start a new chapter of accountability and justice in the country,” the group said.
Also Friday, the UN mission in Afghanistan said it was a “tragedy and travesty” that girls remain deprived of education .
“It has been 1,225 days — soon to be four years — since authorities imposed a ban that prevents girls above the age of 12 from attending school,” said the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva. “It is a travesty and tragedy that millions of Afghan girls have been stripped of their right to education.”
Afghanistan is the only country in the world that explicitly bars women and girls from all levels of education, said Otunbayeva.
