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The release of five Taliban figures from the US detention camp at Guant谩namo Bay, in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, may come back to bite the US 鈥� or not, say analysts, whose assessments of the five and the threats they now pose are mixed.聽

Some South Asia and Middle East security analysts expect the Taliban Five will probably return in聽some capacity to the fight in Afghanistan 鈥� perhaps even with enhanced 鈥渟treet cred.鈥� Others, though, predict they may find it hard to fit back in, given how much Afghanistan has changed since the Taliban regime was deposed in 2001. 聽

The five men, held in US custody for more than a decade, almost certainly harbor deep anger toward the US, most agree. But that doesn鈥檛 mean they have adopted international jihad and will dedicate themselves to attacking Americans and the US, some experts say.

鈥淭hey鈥檒l be angry at the US, but I don鈥檛 know that that鈥檚 going to make them supportive of overseas attacks or that the anger translates into supporting global jihad,鈥� says Seth Jones, associate director of RAND Corp.鈥檚 International Security and Defense Policy Center in Washington. 鈥淭he Taliban remain pretty parochial,鈥� adds the Afghanistan and Pakistan expert, 鈥渁nd pretty focused on Afghanistan and defeating the Karzai government.鈥�

Released Saturday to Qatari officials, the five were all officials in the Taliban government that had harbored Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. But they are not all equal, analysts say.

鈥淭he five are certainly all high-profile, but they had varying levels of importance,鈥� says Marvin Weinbaum, a former State Department analyst with close knowledge of US-Taliban negotiations. 鈥淥nly two of them were really field types, while the other three were what I鈥檇 call 鈥榓dministrative types,鈥� for lack of a better word,鈥� adds Mr. Weinbaum, now at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

RAND鈥檚 Mr. Jones divides the five into two groups: three 鈥渟enior officials鈥� with the Taliban, and a 鈥渟econd tier鈥� of lesser officials but 鈥渟till important鈥� players.

The three 鈥渟enior officials":

Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa.聽He served as interior minister in the Taliban government and was a governor of Herat Province. The US believes he had direct dealings with Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. He had been held at Guant谩namo since 2002.

Mullah Mohammad Fazl. As Army chief of staff under the Taliban regime and as a deputy defense minister, he allegedly directed the massacre of thousands of Afghan Shiites. He was a senior聽commander of Taliban combat operations against the Northern Alliance. He arrived at聽Guant谩namo in late 2001, one of the first detainees there.

Abdul Haq Wasiq.聽He was deputy chief of the Taliban intelligence service, serving under a cousin who was intelligence director.

The two 鈥渟econd-tier鈥� officials:

Mullah Norullah Noori.聽He was the Taliban's governor of Balkh Province and a coordinator of the fight against the Northern Alliance. Classified military files divulged by WikiLeaks describe him as 鈥渙ne of the most significant former Taliban officials鈥� at Guant谩namo and as responsible with Mr. Fazl for the killings of Shiites. 聽 聽

Mohammad Nabi Omari. He was the Taliban鈥檚 communications director and a provincial official in Khost. Described in the WikiLeaks files as having strong ties to anti-coalition militias, he helped organize the escape of Al Qaeda officials to Pakistan in late 2001.

Under terms of the exchange deal, the five Taliban are to remain in Qatar for a year, with the Qatari government pledging to ensure that they do not leave the tiny emirate.

But some in Congress say they assume that the five Taliban will eventually return to Afghanistan to continue the fight. 鈥淚t is highly likely that they will return to the fight against our country after their year in Qatar, which is why I share concerns expressed by many members of both parties about the administration鈥檚 decision,鈥� Sen. Susan Collins (R) of Maine said Wednesday after a聽closed-door administration briefing on the swap.

Experience suggests such concerns have merit. In 2007, a former senior Taliban official, Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir, was released from Guant谩namo 鈥� only to return to Afghanistan to become the Taliban鈥檚 director of military operations.

Such examples lead RAND鈥檚 Jones to figure that the five released detainees will have enhanced 鈥渟treet cred鈥� within the Taliban for having spent 鈥渕ore than a decade in the belly of the beast鈥� at Guant谩namo Bay. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no question some of these individuals have the ability to play a major role鈥� in the Taliban leadership, he says.

Still, the war in Afghanistan is very different now than it was more than a decade ago, when the five were sent to Guant谩namo, analysts also note. The US is no longer involved in combat operations and by next year its troops will number fewer than 10,000, for training Afghan security forces and limited counterterrorism operations. Under President Obama鈥檚 plan, the US military will largely be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2016.

Someone like Fazl, the former Army chief of staff during the Taliban regime, could presumably provide a 鈥渂oost鈥� to a Taliban 鈥渢hat has struggled in a few provinces like Kandahar" and that faces a modernized Afghan Army, says Jones.

But Weinbaum says he doubts that the five will find major roles in a different Taliban fighting a different war. 鈥淭heir real value will be the propaganda boost their release provides, but after that things are less clear,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been out of the loop for so long and [the Taliban] have undergone so many internal changes, it鈥檚 hard to see where or how they鈥檒l fit in now.鈥�