Ex-Taliban commander to plead not guilty in U.S. court to killing U.S. troops

FILE PHOTO: U.S. military advisers from the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade walk at an Afghan National Army base in Maidan Wardak province, Afghanistan August 6, 2018. REUTERS/James Mackenzie

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Taliban commander previously accused of kidnapping an American journalist is expected to plead not guilty on Friday to murdering three U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008.

U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan last week unsealed new charges against Haji Najibullah, who prosecutors say was a Taliban commander in Afghanistan's Wardak Province, which borders Kabul.