Former Taliban commander pleads guilty to kidnapping of journalist, killings of US soldiers

A former Taliban commander has pleaded guilty to taking hostages, including an American journalist, and the deaths of U.S. soldiers, the Justice Department said Friday. 

Haji Najibullah, 49, pleaded guilty to hostage taking and providing material support for acts of terrorism resulting in death in connection with his role in the hostage taking of an American journalist and two Afghan citizens in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2008 and 2009, as well as his leadership of Taliban fighters who carried out attacks on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, between 2007 and 2009, resulting in the deaths of American soldiers. 

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“Najibullah committed his crimes in Afghanistan over 15 years ago, and now faces justice in an American courtroom,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. “Today’s guilty plea serves as an emphatic reminder that this Office, and our law enforcement partners, will aggressively pursue those who harm Americans through acts of terror, no matter where in the world they may be, and no matter how long it may take to achieve justice for their victims.”

The charges against Najibullah stem from the kidnapping of the journalist and attacks on a U.S. military convoy that resulted in the deaths of three Army soldiers — Sgts. 1st Class Matthew L. Hilton and Joseph A. McKay, and Sgt. Mark Palmateer — and their Afghan interpreter in June 2008.

Several other soldiers were injured in the attack. 

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He was also charged with an October attack that same year in which a U.S. military helicopter was shot down. In November of that year, fighters under Najibullah’s command took hostage an American journalist and two Afghan nationals at gunpoint in Afghanistan. 

They were forced to hike to neighboring Pakistan, where they were forced to make videos demanding ransom payments and the release of Taliban terrorists held by the U.S. government, federal prosecutors said. 

The Taliban commander was responsible for the Jaghato district in Afghanistan’s Wardak Province, court documents state. He had over 1,000 troops under his command, who he had conduct attacks on American and NATO troops outside of Kabul.

Najibullah was arrested and extradited from Ukraine in October 2020, and is now in federal custody in the U.S.

He faces a life sentence in prison.