Two Western Hostages Are Freed in Afghanistan in Deal With Taliban

The three Taliban prisoners were flown to Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban have a political office, earlier as part of a highly choreographed exchange, officials said. After the confirmation that the Western hostages had been freed, Taliban officials said that they had custody of the three men in Doha.

Also to be included in the exchange were 10 members of the Afghan security forces being held by the Taliban, Afghan and American officials said. No confirmation of their status was available on Tuesday.

In addition to Mr. Haqqani, the Afghan government released Hafiz Abdul Rashid, a senior Taliban commander who had equipped suicide bombers, chosen their targets and moved them from safe houses in Pakistan into Afghanistan. Mr. Rashid, a brother of a member of the Taliban negotiating team in Doha, was captured along with Mr. Haqqani in 2014.

The third Taliban member in the exchange was Hajji Mali Khan, a senior commander and an uncle of the deputy leader of the Taliban.

The three men are members of the Haqqani network, a brutal wing of the Taliban based in Pakistan’s tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. The group has been responsible for suicide bombings against Afghan civilians, as well as attacks on Afghan and American forces.

Anas Haqqani’s release was important to the militants, in part, because his father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, founded the Haqqani network, where Anas Haqqani was considered a rising star.

Recovering American hostages held overseas has been a priority for Mr. Trump, and his national security adviser, Robert C. O’Brien, was previously the State Department’s top official for managing hostage cases. In this case, the failing health of Mr. King gave an urgency to the prisoner negotiations.