&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Ex-Taliban commander who kidnapped journalist, killed US troops sentenced to 42 years in prison")
A former Taliban commander accused of orchestrating the kidnapping of a New York Times journalist and directing deadly attacks that killed American soldiers in Afghanistan has been sentenced to 42 years in prison by a US federal court. 50-year-old Haji Najibullah was handed the sentence on Tuesday (Jun 9) after pleading guilty earlier this year to hostage-taking and providing material support for terrorist acts that resulted in deaths, according to the US Department of Justice.
The charges against Haji Najibullah
The charges against Najibullah stem from some of the deadliest years of the war in Afghanistan, when Taliban insurgents were carrying out attacks against US and NATO forces while also targeting civilians and foreign nationals.
US prosecutors said Najibullah served as a Taliban commander in Afghanistan's Wardak province between 2007 and 2009, overseeing fighters who carried out ambushes, suicide attacks, improvised explosive device (IED) strikes and rocket attacks against coalition forces.
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According to the US Justice Department, one of the most serious incidents linked to him occurred on June 26, 2008, when Taliban fighters under his command attacked a US military convoy in Wardak province. The assault killed three American soldiers, Sergeants First Class Matthew Hilton and Joseph McKay, Sergeant Mark Palmateer, as well as an Afghan interpreter. Several others were wounded. Investigators said Najibullah later boasted about the attack and claimed responsibility for it.
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Months later, Najibullah became involved in the kidnapping of New York Times reporter David Rohde, his Afghan translator and their driver. The three were abducted at gunpoint in November 2008 while travelling in Afghanistan and were taken to Taliban-controlled areas in Pakistan.
According to court documents, the hostages were held for nearly seven months under armed guard. They were forced to record proof-of-life videos and make ransom appeals in an effort to pressure the US government into releasing Taliban prisoners and meeting other demands. In one video, Rohde was allegedly made to plead for his life while a machine gun was pointed at him.
The kidnapping remained largely secret at the time after The New York Times chose not to publicise the case out of concern for Rohde's safety. He eventually escaped along with another captive in June 2009.
Arrested after years in the wind
Najibullah's years-long effort to evade justice came to an end in 2020 when he was arrested in Ukraine and extradited to the United States. Since then, federal prosecutors have pursued charges tied to both the hostage-taking operation and the deadly attacks on US troops.
Announcing the sentence, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said those who target Americans through acts of terrorism "will be hunted down and brought to justice, no matter how long it takes." FBI Director Kash Patel similarly described the sentence as long-overdue accountability for attacks that killed American service members and terrorised civilians: "he will pay the price for his brutal crimes".
