In October 2019, three Indian engineers who were abducted in Afghanistan were released in exchange for 11 Taliban members, including a commander sanctioned by the U.S., according to a UN report.
The report, from the UN Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanction Monitoring Team, said the Taliban members released from the Bagram detention facility included “former shadow governors Sheikh Abdul Rahim and Mawlawi Rashid Baluch.”
Rahim is believed to be appointed by the Haqqani Network which is managed by Taliban’s Sirajuddin Haqqani and has close ties to Pakistani security establishments.
Baluch was previously listed (sanctioned) by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which called him a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT)” and emphasized his role in “the Taliban and Al-Qaida nexus.”
The three Indian are believed to be a part of a group of seven engineers who were kidnapped in Baghlan in 2018. They had been working on power projects run by the Afghan government.
