A senior Taliban leader said the five-for-one exchange for Army POW Bowe Bergdahl will only inspire insurgents to grab more Americans.
One of the Taliban leaders directly involved in Saturday’s swap laughed when Time magazine asked if the deal with America would prompt more abductions.
“Definitely,” the chuckling terrorist told Time in a report published online Thursday.
“It’s better to kidnap one person like Bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people. It has encouraged our people. Now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird.”
The insurgent admitted there was debate within ranks, with some demanding a cash ransom in addition to the release of five Guantánamo detainees.
Ultimately, leadership told rank-and-file that freedom for the detained Taliban fighters was more important.
“We told them that these five men are more important than millions of dollars to us,” he said.
Before handing over Bergdahl, the Tablian hired a tailor to make the captured US soldier new clothes that he wore at the exchange.
“You know we are also human beings and have hearts in our bodies,” said the senior Taliban commander affiliated with the Haqqani network.
“We are fighting a war against each other, in which [the Americans] kill us and we kill them. But we did whatever we could to make [Bergdahl] happy.”