Australian freed by Taliban believes US made multiple rescue attempts

An Australian man who spent three years in Taliban captivity said on Sunday that he believes US special forces tried to rescue him and an American colleague on half-a-dozen-occasions.

Speaking in Sydney for the first time since he was freed in a prisoner swap deal, 50-year-old Timothy Weeks said he never lost hope, but the captivity "had a profound and unimaginable effect" on him.

Detailing a hellish life spent moving between windowless cells in Afghanistan and Pakistan Weeks said "after almost 1,200 days, our ordeal ended as abruptly as it had begun."
"But, by the will of God, I am here, I am alive and I am safe."
He recalled that in April this year he was woken "at around 2:00am and we were taken down into the tunnels."
"I believe now that it was the Navy SEALs coming in to get us. And the moment that we got into the tunnels, we were just one or two metres underground. There was a huge bang at the front door."