US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday announced a reward for the capture of Taliban leaders in Afghanistan. He said the number of Americans held in the country could be higher than previously thought. The stark warning came less than a week after the Afghan Taliban government and the United States exchanged prisoners.

Rubio said in his tweet, "We are hearing that the Taliban are holding more Americans than previously reported. If this is true, we will have to announce a very large reward for the capture of their top leaders, perhaps even larger than what we had for bin Laden."

As part of the deal with the Biden administration, the Taliban released Ryan Corbett, the most prominent American held in Afghanistan. He was captured in Afghanistan in August 2022. The Taliban also released William McKenty, about whom little is known.

The Taliban government has imposed strict restrictions on women, which have drawn international criticism. Meanwhile, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has requested arrest warrants for top Taliban leaders for alleged abuses against women.