Haji Najibullah, a former Taliban commander accused of participating in the kidnapping of American journalist David Rohde and his two companions, was sentenced on Tuesday by a federal court in New York to 42 years in prison.
According to ABC News, U.S. federal prosecutors stated that Haji Najibullah and his subordinates abducted David Rohde, his Afghan interpreter, and their driver in 2008, holding them captive for more than seven months in safe houses across Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Prosecutors said the kidnappers sought ransom payments in exchange for the hostages’ release and also demanded the release of several Taliban prisoners from U.S.-controlled detention facilities.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that during the captivity, Najibullah forced the hostages to record proof-of-life videos. In these recordings, Taliban fighters armed with automatic weapons threatened the captives, who were compelled to appeal to their families and the U.S. government to meet the Taliban’s demands.
According to the prosecution, the hostages and their families endured months of fear and uncertainty, constantly facing the possibility that they might never see one another again.
Court documents identified Najibullah as a Taliban commander in Afghanistan’s Wardak Province beginning in 2007. He also served as an unofficial spokesperson for the group. Prosecutors alleged that forces under his command carried out several ambushes against U.S. military convoys, resulting in the deaths of multiple American service members.
In November 2008, David Rohde, who was then working for The New York Times, traveled to meet Najibullah for an interview. However, according to prosecutors, Taliban members acting on Najibullah’s orders abducted Rohde, his interpreter, and their driver.
Court records indicate that the armed men confiscated the captives’ mobile phones, bound their hands, and blindfolded them following the abduction.
Prosecutors further stated that after Rohde informed his captors that he was an American citizen, one Taliban member reportedly remarked in Pashto that they intended to send a “bloody message” to then–U.S. President Barack Obama.
Rohde and his interpreter ultimately escaped after seven months in captivity by using a rope to flee while their guards were asleep. Rohde later recounted the ordeal in his memoir, A Rope and a Prayer.
Haji Najibullah was arrested in Ukraine in October 2020 while traveling there and was subsequently extradited to the United States to stand trial.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
