The US has lifted bounties on three Taliban figures, including the interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, who also heads a powerful network blamed for attacks against Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government. Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani today said the US government had also revoked the bounties placed on Abdul Aziz Haqqani and Yahya Haqqani. Talking to the media, he said these three individuals are two brothers and one paternal cousin.

A Foreign Ministry official, Zakir Jalaly, said the Taliban’s release of US prisoner George Glezmann on Friday and the removal of bounties showed both sides were moving beyond the effects of the wartime phase and taking constructive steps to pave the way for progress in bilateral relations. He also said the recent developments in Afghanistan-US relations are a good example of the pragmatic and realistic engagement between the two governments.

The Taliban see this as an opening in breaking out of isolation. The Haqqani network grew into one of the deadliest arms of the Taliban after the US-led 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. The group employed roadside bombs, suicide bombings and other attacks, including on the Indian and US embassies, the Afghan presidency, and other major targets.