Pennsylvania

Montgomery County Native, American Professor Kevin King, Freed by Taliban in Afghanistan After 3 Years Captive

On Nov. 12, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced a deal to release two hostages, including a Norristown native, in exchange for three Taliban members

The Taliban has freed two Western hostages, including Kevin King, a native of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, after holding them in captivity for more than three years, an American official and the prime minister of neighboring Pakistan told NBC News.

A U.S. official with knowledge of the release said King, 63, and Timothy Weeks, 50, were professors at American University of Kabul when they were kidnapped at gunpoint in August 2016. Their health was being evaluated and the two were being debriefed, added the official who was not authorized to speak to the media on the subject.

King was born in Norristown and went to the University of Miami, according to a report in The New York Times.

"We appreciate steps taken by all involved to make it possible," Prime Minister Imran Khan said via Twitter. "As part of the international community working to bring peace and end the suffering of the Afghan people, Pakistan has fully supported and facilitated this release as part of its policy of supporting initiatives for a negotiated political settlement of the Afghan conflict."

On Nov. 12, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced a deal to release the two hostages in exchange for three Taliban members.

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