(TargetLiberty.org) – One of the Taliban leaders who seized power dramatically in Afghanistan over the weekend had been in US custody for 12 years – but President Obama set him free in a much-criticized deal.
As the Taliban took control of one Afghan regional center after another last week, it led to the terrorist group finally capturing the capital city Kabul on Sunday. Details of the group’s new leadership began to emerge showing that one of the leading militants was among the five men released in a controversial 2014 prisoner swap organized by Obama.
The five were freed in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl, a US soldier who deserted his post and was held captive by the Taliban for five years. At the time, Republicans and intelligence experts warned Khairullah Khairkhwa was too dangerous to be released – but Obama insisted.
2/2 Taliban leader Khairullah Khairkhwa arrested after 9/11 was in Guantanamo 2002-14. He and Usama bin Laden were close and Pentagon said he was too dangerous for release. In 2014 he was released w/4 other terrorists for Bergdahl prisoner swap deal by Obama. Why is he not dead?
— Adam Housley (@adamhousley) August 18, 2021
Khairkhwa was Interior Minister in the Taliban’s unrecognized “government” and reportedly worked closely with Osama bin Laden until he was captured by Pakistani forces in 2002 and handed over to the CIA. After his release from the Guantanamo detention camp, he was supposed to remain in Qatar under supervision, but quickly resumed his work for the insurgency. Now he’s one of the masterminds of the Taliban’s rapid sweep across Afghanistan – when he should still be in a cell at Gitmo.
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