The Taliban government in Afghanistan says US nationals were released in exchange for an Afghan serving a life sentence in California.
The Taliban government in Afghanistan announced the release of Americans held under a prisoner exchange deal with the United States.
The Taliban Foreign Ministry in Kabul did not name the American citizens or say how many of them had been released, but said they had been exchanged for Khan Mohammad, who was arrested in Nangarhar province, in eastern Afghanistan two decades ago and is serving a life sentence in a California facility. prison.
“Following extensive and productive negotiations between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the United States of America, an agreement was reached facilitating the release of an Afghan mujahid, Khan Mohammad, from a US prison in exchange of the release of American nationals,” the Afghan statement said. The Foreign Ministry said in an article on X on Tuesday.
Following extensive and productive negotiations between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the United States of America, an agreement was reached facilitating the release of an Afghan mujahid, Khan Mohammad, from an American prison in exchange for the release of American nationals. pic.twitter.com/fw0QgQztZ0
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Afghanistan (@MoFA_Afg) January 21, 2025
The Associated Press news agency quoted the family of Ryan Corbett, one of the Americans allegedly involved in the swap deal, as saying their hearts were filled with “tremendous gratitude for supporting his life and ‘to have brought him home after what had been the most difficult’. and uncertain 894 days of our life.”
Corbett, who was living in Afghanistan with his family at the time of the collapse of the US-backed government in 2021, was arrested by the Taliban in August 2022 while on a business trip.
The Afghan Foreign Ministry said the prisoner exchange, brokered by Qatar, was the result of “long and fruitful negotiations” with the United States.
The announcement comes the day after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who during his first term presided over a deal with the Taliban that paved the way for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
After Trump’s election victory in November, the Taliban government said it hoped for a “new chapter” in relations with the United States.
