Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there will be no other option but to place a "VERY BIG bounty" on the leaders of the Taliban if more Americans are being held hostage by the terrorist government than was previously disclosed.
In a post on X Saturday evening, Rubio said, "Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported. If this is true, we will have to immediately place a VERY BIG bounty on their top leaders, maybe even bigger than the one we had on Bin Laden."
The United States and the Taliban agreed to a prisoner exchange earlier this week in which two Americans, Ryan Corbett and William Wallace McKenty, were released from Taliban detention for Afghan Khan Mohammad, who was incarcerated on drug and terrorism charges in the U.S.
Rubio's suggestion that there could be more hostages comes as two other American hostages were not included in the prisoner exchange and remain in Taliban custody: Mahmood Habibi and George Glezmann. The Taliban continue to claim they do not hold Habibi in custody, and little is known about his condition.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Taliban have also continuously demanded the release of Guantanamo Bay prisoner Muhammad Rahim, who was described in 2016 as a man who had “advanced knowledge of 9/11” and who had “become even more deeply committed to [al Qaeda’s] jihadist doctrine and Islamic extremism” since his detention.
Rubio was confirmed as President Donald Trump's secretary of state on Inauguration Day.