Five former Taliban commanders who were previously detained in Guantanamo Bay prison for over a decade before being released in a prisoner swap deal in 2012, have now been assigned to the Afghan movement’s political office in Qatar where they will take part in future peace talks, Reuters reports, citing Taliban officials.
Another Taliban official in Qatar also revealed that while these former commanders, who were close to the movement’s late founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, were not previously attached to the political office, the organization has sought their opinions and advice in the past
"They have been contributing to certain important matters in their private capacity. Now they are officially declared as members of the Qatar-based political council and would represent Taliban movement in peace talks with the foreign leaders," he said.
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The Taliban commanders — Mohammed Fazl, Mohammad Nabi, Khairullah Khairkhwa, Abdul Haq Wasiq and Noorullah Noori – spent 12 years in a US detention center until they were swapped for Bowe Bergdahl, a US Army Sergeant who was captured by the Taliban in 2009 after wandering off a military base in Afghanistan.