The removal of the prize comes days after the Afghan group released US citizens.
The US has lifted a $10 million reward for information that led to the arrest of Sirajuddin Hakkani, a spokesman for the Afghanistan Ministry of Interior.
Despite Saturday’s announcement, the FBI listed the rewards on its website, saying that Hakkani is “believed to have coordinated and participated in a cross-border attack on Afghanistan’s US and Allied forces.”
The move comes after the Taliban announced the US citizens who had been held captive for two years on Thursday.
George Grezmann, who was accused of during a tourist trip in Afghanistan in December 2022, is the third time a US detainee has been released by the Taliban since January.
In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Grezmann’s release represented a “positive and constructive step.” He also thanked Qatar for the role of “instrumental” in securing the release.
The Taliban has previously described the release of US detainees as part of a global “normalization” effort.
The group has remained an international pariah ever since taking over Afghanistan as lightning in August 2021. Some countries continue to operate diplomatic facilities within the country, but none have officially recognized the Taliban government.
The Taliban acquisition came when former US President Joe Biden administration oversaw the withdrawal outlined by President Donald Trump’s first administration.
The US president negotiated with the Taliban in 2020 to end the war in Afghanistan, and agreed to a 14-month deadline for withdrawing US and allied forces.
The agreement was controversial in excluding the Western-backed Afghan government, which fell during the 2021 US withdrawal from the country.
Hakkani, the son of a commander known for his war with the Soviet Union, was the head of the powerful Hakkani network, a US-designated “terrorist group” that has long been seen as one of Afghanistan’s most dangerous armed groups.
The use of suicide bombings is infamous and is believed to have coordinated some of Kabul’s most famous attacks over the years.
The network has been accused of assassinating top Afghan officials and holding Western citizens who were kidnapped for ransom, including Us Soldier Bowe Bergdahl, released in 2014.
Hakkani remained on the US radar after the Taliban acquisition. In 2022, the US drone strike in Kabul killed then Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. According to US officials, the house where Alzawahili was killed was Hakkani’s.
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