A U.S. court has sentenced Haji Najibullah, a top Taliban commander, to 43 years in prison for taking an American journalist, David Rohde and two Afghan nationals hostage in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2008 and 2009.

Mr Najibullah, 50, was also sentenced for terrorism charges based on his leadership of Taliban fighters who carried out attacks on U.S. service members in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2009, resulting in the deaths of American soldiers and other victims.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla handed the Taliban commander the sentence on June 9, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement, adding: “On April 25, 2025, Najibullah pleaded guilty to hostage taking and providing material support for acts of terrorism resulting in death.”

U.S. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Mr Najibullah’s sentence once again shows that “those who harm Americans and engage in acts of terrorism will be hunted down and brought to justice, no matter how long it takes.”

“As a Taliban commander, Najibullah supported brutal terrorist attacks that killed American service members and orchestrated the savage hostage-taking of an American journalist and Afghan civilians. Today’s sentence delivers justice for the victims and their families,” Mr Blanche said.

Mr Najibullah, from 2007 to 2009, served as a Taliban commander in Afghanistan’s Wardak Province, which borders Kabul.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Mr Najibullah and other Taliban militants on November 10, 2008, kidnapped an American New York Times journalist and two Afghan nationals traveling with him at gunpoint in Afghanistan, holding them hostage for approximately seven months.

While Mr Najibullah led Taliban fighters, they carried out deadly attacks against American and NATO troops and their Afghan allies using, among other things, (i) suicide bombers, (ii) automatic weapons, (iii) IEDs, and (iv) rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and other anti-tank weapons and explosives, including against U.S. military helicopters.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Mr Najibullah proudly spoke about the brutality of the attacks that he and his men were prepared to conduct, including by stating that his men were “ready to die” and “put on a belt and blow themselves up if we ask them.”