The State Department has announced that it will extend the travel ban put into place for the "Taliban 5" after last-minute negotiations with the government of Qatar were completed.
The five individuals were fairly high-ranking individuals within the Taliban network before being detained by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The five men -- Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa, Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Nori, Abdul Haq Wasiq and Mohammad Nabi Omari -- were released to Qatar after a deal was reached in 2014 that allowed the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
In a statement, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said that the deal " is typical with this administration, there is no long term plan on how to prevent their return to Afghanistan or other regions where our men and women in uniform are serving on the front lines of war."
Qatar has announced that they are monitoring all individuals, but, "In March, three of the men attempted to reconnect with their terror groups and, if released, they will undoubtedly return to the fight and target our service members and further threaten American citizens."
Inhofe continues saying, "Without a long term plan to monitor and hold these terrorists, our nation will undoubtedly be dealing with them once again as leaders in the worldwide anti-Western terrorist enterprise."
Inhofe concludes saying that the Government Accountability Office (GAO), in Aug. 2014, "released a report stating that the president violated section 8111 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act when it transferred five Taliban terrorists from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to the nation of Qatar without providing Congress at a minimum of 30-days notice."