US, Australian hostages appear in Afghan Taliban video
US, Australian hostages appear in Afghan Taliban video
Two academics abducted from the American University of Afghanistan have appeared in a hostage video released on Wednesday.
1 min read
The Taliban has launched a renewed insurgency against US troops [Getty]
An American and an Australian appeared in a Taliban hostage video released on Wednesday, five months after they were kidnapped from Kabul.
Gunmen wearing police uniforms abducted the two professors at the American University of Afghanistan in the heart of the Afghan capital on August 7, seizing them from their vehicle after smashing the passenger window.
The 13-minute, 35-second video circulated by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid offers the first apparent proof that the hostages are still alive.
The video comes after US Special Operations forces conducted a failed secret raid in August to rescue them.
President Barack Obama authorised the raid in an unspecified area of Afghanistan but the hostages were not there, the Pentagon said in September.
The elite American University of Afghanistan, which opened in 2006 and enrols more than 1,700 students, was not immediately reachable for comment. It has attracted a number of visiting faculty members from Western countries.
The abductions highlighted the growing dangers faced by foreigners in Afghanistan.
The Afghan capital is infested with organised criminal gangs who stage kidnappings for ransom, often targeting foreigners and wealthy Afghans, and sometimes handing them over to insurgent groups.
Gunmen wearing police uniforms abducted the two professors at the American University of Afghanistan in the heart of the Afghan capital on August 7, seizing them from their vehicle after smashing the passenger window.
The 13-minute, 35-second video circulated by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid offers the first apparent proof that the hostages are still alive.
The video comes after US Special Operations forces conducted a failed secret raid in August to rescue them.
President Barack Obama authorised the raid in an unspecified area of Afghanistan but the hostages were not there, the Pentagon said in September.
The elite American University of Afghanistan, which opened in 2006 and enrols more than 1,700 students, was not immediately reachable for comment. It has attracted a number of visiting faculty members from Western countries.
The abductions highlighted the growing dangers faced by foreigners in Afghanistan.
The Afghan capital is infested with organised criminal gangs who stage kidnappings for ransom, often targeting foreigners and wealthy Afghans, and sometimes handing them over to insurgent groups.
![President Pezeshkian has denounced Israel's attacks on Lebanon [Getty]](/sites/default/files/styles/image_684x385/public/2173482924.jpeg?h=a5f2f23a&itok=q3evVtko)
Follow the Middle East's top stories in English at The New Arab on Google News
More In News
