The Taliban government said on Tuesday it had released two American citizens from prison in return for an Afghan fighter held in the United States, in a deal brokered by Qatar.
Discussions about the prisoner exchange were confirmed last year, but the swap was announced after outgoing US president Joe Biden handed over to Donald Trump, who was inaugurated on Monday.
“An Afghan fighter Khan Mohammed imprisoned in America has been released in exchange for American citizens and returned to the country,” the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said Mohammed had been serving a life sentence in California after being arrested “almost two decades ago” in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.
Mohammed, who was convicted of narco-terrorism by a US court, returned to the province on Tuesday, where he was greeted by a crowd and presented with garlands of flowers.
He told journalists he was grateful to the Taliban authorities for his release and he was “very happy” to be reunited with his family.
“A lot of innocent people are imprisoned, my request is that all of them can be released and be able to return to their homes,” he said.
His son, Rafiullah Mohammed, said his father was innocent and that the family demanded compensation.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters two US nationals had been released, declining to provide any further details on the exchange.
The family of US citizen Ryan Corbett, who was detained by the Taliban in 2022, confirmed he was released and thanked both the Biden and Trump administrations, as well as Qatar.
“Today, our hearts are filled with overwhelming gratitude and praise to God for sustaining Ryan’s life and bringing him back home after what has been the most challenging and uncertain 894 days of our lives,” the family said on their website.
They called for two other Americans still held in Afghanistan to be released.
US media named William McKenty as the second released American detainee, noting little was known about what he was doing in Afghanistan and that his family had asked the US government for privacy in his case.
The New York Times said two other Americans remain in detention in Afghanistan, former airline mechanic George Glezmann and naturalised American Mahmood Habibi.
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