When the Taliban stormed Kabul last month, they seized control of the country's most prestigious private university, the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF).

The majority of the endangered students are now trapped in Afghanistan, where faculty members are attempting to get them out while grieving an intellectual and cultural loss.&nbsp;

Current and former AUAF students gathered on Sunday at a safe house and boarded buses to the Kabul airport. After seven hours of waiting for clearance, they were advised that the airport gates posed a security concern and that civilian evacuations would finish on Monday.&nbsp;

AUAF was a symbolic target in an age when Islamists from Afghanistan to Nigeria are eager to deny people access to information. It was funded by US aid and had a mandate to educate Afghanistan's future generation of professionals and leaders.

The university reopened like a phoenix after each attack, with new security measures, extra watch towers, and entrance cabins where entrants were thoroughly patted down. Its pupils, largely scholarship boys and girls from all throughout Afghanistan, always returned, well aware of their impoverished parents' and country's expectations.&nbsp;

Since the Taliban's fall, tens of thousands of Afghans have been evacuated. Many have been transported to third-party countries, while others have arrived in the United States, where facilities are rapidly filling up.

(With inputs from agencies)

When the Taliban stormed Kabul last month, they seized control of the country's most prestigious private university, the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF).

When the Taliban stormed Kabul last month, they seized control of the country's most prestigious private university, the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF). The majority of the endangered students are now trapped in Afghanistan, where faculty members are attempting to get them out while grieving an intellectual and cultural loss. Current and former AUAF students gathered on Sunday at a safe house and boarded buses to the Kabul airport. After seven hours of waiting for clearance, they were advised that the airport gates posed a security concern and that civilian evacuations would finish on Monday. AUAF was a symbolic target in an age when Islamists from Afghanistan to Nigeria are eager to deny people access to information. It was funded by US aid and had a mandate to educate Afghanistan's future generation of professionals and leaders. The university reopened like a phoenix after each attack, with new security measures, extra watch towers, and entrance cabins where entrants were thoroughly patted down. Its pupils, largely scholarship boys and girls from all throughout Afghanistan, always returned, well aware of their impoverished parents' and country's expectations. Since the Taliban's fall, tens of thousands of Afghans have been evacuated. Many have been transported to third-party countries, while others have arrived in the United States, where facilities are rapidly filling up. (With inputs from agencies)

A symbol of US soft power, Afghanistan’s American University in shambles, its students left in lurch

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced Tuesday that three high-ranking Taliban prisoners would be released, in an apparent exchange for two Western hostages who were kidnapped by the insurgents in 2016.

The three Taliban prisoners include Anas Haqqani, who was seized in 2014 and whose older brother is the deputy Taliban leader and head of the Haqqani network, a notorious Taliban affiliate.

"We have decided to conditionally release three Taliban prisoners who... have been in Bagram prison in the custody of the Afghan government for some time," Ghani said in an announcement at the presidential palace.

He did not specify the fate of the Western hostages, an Australian and an American, and it was not clear when or where they would be freed.

But Ghani noted in his speech that "their health has been deteriorating while in the custody of the terrorists".

He added that the release of the two professors would "pave the way" for the start of unofficial direct talks between his government and the Taliban, who long have refused to negotiate with Ghani's administration.&nbsp;

Ghani, flanked by his top security advisors, said the decision to release the three Taliban prisoners had been "very hard and necessary".

In August 2016, gunmen wearing military uniforms kidnapped two professors of the American University of Afghanistan in the heart of Kabul.

The two, American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, later appeared looking haggard in a Taliban hostage video, with the insurgents going on to say that King was in poor health.

The elite American University of Afghanistan opened in 2006 and has attracted a number of faculty members from Western countries.

The US and the Australian embassies in Kabul declined to provide immediate comment. American University also did not comment.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced Tuesday that three high-ranking Taliban prisoners would be released, in an apparent exchange for two Western hostages who were kidnapped by the insurgents in 2016.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced Tuesday that three high-ranking Taliban prisoners would be released, in an apparent exchange for two Western hostages who were kidnapped by the insurgents in 2016. The three Taliban prisoners include Anas Haqqani, who was seized in 2014 and whose older brother is the deputy Taliban leader and head of the Haqqani network, a notorious Taliban affiliate. "We have decided to conditionally release three Taliban prisoners who... have been in Bagram prison in the custody of the Afghan government for some time," Ghani said in an announcement at the presidential palace. He did not specify the fate of the Western hostages, an Australian and an American, and it was not clear when or where they would be freed. But Ghani noted in his speech that "their health has been deteriorating while in the custody of the terrorists". He added that the release of the two professors would "pave the way" for the start of unofficial direct talks between his government and the Taliban, who long have refused to negotiate with Ghani's administration. Ghani, flanked by his top security advisors, said the decision to release the three Taliban prisoners had been "very hard and necessary". In August 2016, gunmen wearing military uniforms kidnapped two professors of the American University of Afghanistan in the heart of Kabul. The two, American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, later appeared looking haggard in a Taliban hostage video, with the insurgents going on to say that King was in poor health. The elite American University of Afghanistan opened in 2006 and has attracted a number of faculty members from Western countries. The US and the Australian embassies in Kabul declined to provide immediate comment. American University also did not comment.

Afghanistan to release senior Taliban prisoners in apparent swap

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A symbol of US soft power, Afghanistan’s American University in shambles, its students left in lurch

Afghanistan to release senior Taliban prisoners in apparent swap