A group allied with the Taliban has been holding a U.S. man hostage for more than a year in a case that previously had not been disclosed, according to a published report citing U.S. officials and others familiar with his case.
The Daily Beast did not name the man or give details about him, but said he was being held by the Haqqani Network, the same group that held U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl before he was freed last year in a swap for five senior Taliban leaders.
The group has not made any public demands for his possible release, the Daily Beast said. A former government official in Afghanistan told the news outlet that he is alive and in good health. Local officials and those in the United States said they do not know precisely where he is being held.
The unnamed man is one of 30 Americans held hostage outside the United States, who have been the object of political controversy in Washington over what the government should be doing to secure their release.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who has taken a lead in pushing the issue, wrote a letter Monday to President Obama calling on him to quickly appoint an interagency coordinator for hostage recovery, as required in the annual defense policy bill he signed into law last week, to replace the FBI as the lead in the effort.
“Mr. President, there are still Americans in captivity in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region,” Hunter wrote. “My strong recommendation is to appoint a hostage recovery coordinator with direct control and oversight of the fusion cell — and someone without a direct relationship to the FBI.”
A spokesman for Hunter told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday that his office was unaware of the case revealed by the Daily Beast, and that the letter was about the broader issue of how to deal with all Americans held captive.
