Taliban announce death of Australian ex-hostage who returned to Afghanistan

KABUL: Afghanistan´s Taliban authorities on Wednesday announced the death of Australian Jibra´il Omar, who had returned to the country after having being kidnapped and held hostage by the group for more than three years.

Omar, originally named Timothy Weeks before he converted to Islam, was taken hostage in 2016 alongside an American academic as they left the American University in Kabul, where they both worked.

Both men were released in 2019 to the custody of US forces in southern Afghanistan in exchange for three high-ranking members of the Haqqani Network armed group, a Taliban ally. “Unfortunately, Australian lecturer Timothy Weeks currently named Jibra´il Omar has passed away of cancer today. He had been suffering from the concern for a long time,” the Afghan interior ministry said in a statement.