RASC News Agency: As reported by international media outlets, Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, issued a stark warning to the Taliban on the fourth day of his tenure, stating that a bounty surpassing that placed on Osama bin Laden would be offered for their senior leaders. Rubio revealed that he had recently learned the Taliban are holding more American citizens hostage than previously disclosed. Writing on X, the Secretary of State declared: “If this information is accurate, we must immediately place a significantly larger bounty on their leaders greater than the one on Bin Laden.” This warning comes amid reports that multiple American citizens remain in Taliban captivity in Afghanistan.
Initial reports suggested that three American citizens Ryan Corbett, Golzman, and Mahmood Shah Habibi were imprisoned by the Taliban. However, U.S. officials have previously confirmed that seven American nationals are currently being held in Taliban-controlled facilities. While the Taliban have denied detaining Mahmood Shah Habibi, a family member recently informed the media that Habibi had been handed over to Al-Qaeda by the Taliban. William McKenty, whose name had not been previously mentioned among Americans detained by the Taliban, has now been identified as one of two U.S. citizens alongside Ryan Corbett who were recently exchanged for Khan Mohammad, a senior Taliban figure detained in the United States.
Khan Mohammad, a high-ranking Taliban operative and a notoriously dangerous terrorist, was apprehended nearly two decades ago in Nangarhar Province by U.S. forces. He was subsequently convicted on charges of terrorism and drug trafficking in a U.S. court and sentenced to life imprisonment.
