A US court on Tuesday sentenced a former Taliban commander to 42 years in prison and five years of supervised release for his role in taking of hostages, including one American journalist, identified as New York Times journalist David Rohde.
A New York court handed down the sentence to 50-year-old Haji Najibullah for “his role in the hostage taking of an American journalist and two Afghan nationals in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2008 and 2009,” a court document read.
He was also sentenced for his leadership of Taliban fighters who carried out attacks on US military personnel in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2009, resulting in the deaths of American soldiers.
Arrested in Ukraine, he was extradited to the United States in 2020.
On April 25 2025, Najibullah pleaded guilty to hostage taking and providing material support for acts of terrorism resulting in death, the document said.
“Those who harm Americans and engage in acts of terrorism will be hunted down and brought to justice, no matter how long it takes,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, according to the document.
“As a Taliban commander, Najibullah supported brutal terrorist attacks that killed American servicemembers and orchestrated the savage hostage-taking of an American journalist and Afghan civilians. Today’s sentence delivers justice for the victims and their families.”
Rohde was kidnapped in Afghanistan in November 2008, along with a translator and a driver.
According to the Times, which managed to keep the news of his kidnapping secret so as not to endanger him, Rohde managed to escape from his captors in June 2009.
