The Taliban have freed an American and an Australian held hostage since 2016 in exchange for three imprisoned senior militants.
Timothy Weeks and Kevin King were kidnapped outside the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul where they worked as professors.
The three Taliban prisoners reportedly include Anas Haqqani, younger brother of the Taliban deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and two other senior commanders.
Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani said it was a hard decision but is aimed at restarting talks with the Taliban.
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