US may announce 'very big bounty' for Taliban leaders - Secretary of State
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (photo: Getty Images)
The United States is ready to announce a "'very big bounty'" for Taliban leaders. It turned out that the Taliban are holding more Americans than previously reported, Reuters informs.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that there could be a "very big bounty" for the capture of Taliban leaders if the Taliban are indeed holding more Americans hostage than previously reported.
"Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported. 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," Rubio said.
The statement came amid reports of the release of two Americans held by the Taliban. According to media reports, one of them was Ryan Corbett, who had been imprisoned since 2022. The name of the second released American is William McKenty.
Last week, the Afghan authorities confirmed that the release was made possible as a result of an exchange for Khan Mohammad, an Afghan convicted in the United States on charges of drug smuggling and extremism.
Recently, under the order of US President Donald Trump to freeze refugee programs, flights to the United States were suspended for almost 1,660 Afghans.
Among them were family members of the U.S. military.
On the eve of his inauguration, Trump promised to quickly close border crossings for illegal migrants. He also said he was planning the "largest deportation" in US history.
