Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior, announced late on Wednesday, January 8, via his X account that Timothy Weeks, a former lecturer at the American University of Kabul, known as «Jibrael Omar» passed away at his home in Kabul.
Timothy Weeks, an Australian citizen, was kidnapped by the Taliban in August 2016 in Kabul, along with Kevin King, an American citizen. They were released in 2019 in exchange for three prominent Taliban members, including Anas Haqqani, the brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani.
After the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, Weeks returned to Kabul and became one of the group’s lobbyists. According to the Taliban, Jibrael Omar had been battling cancer for about a year and was undergoing treatment.
