Afghanistan to swap Taliban militants for American, Australian captives

Afghanistan will release two senior Taliban commanders and a leader of the Haqqani militant group in exchange for an American and an Australian professor who was kidnapped in 2016, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office said on Tuesday.

The government has decided to free top militant commander Anas Haqqani and two other Taliban commanders in a prisoner swap, a deal that could pave the way for peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

The Taliban had kidnapped the Australian and American professors in August 2016 from the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul.