Taliban releases US Citizens in prisoner swap deal for jailed Afghan mujahid
Following extensive and productive negotiations between Afghanistan and the US, an agreement was reached facilitating the release of an Afghan Mujahid, Khan Mohammad, from a US prison in exchange for the release of American nationals, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday in a post on X.
The Taliban government in Afghanistan has released two US citizens in a prisoner exchange for an Afghan jailed in a US prison, it said Tuesday.
Americans freed were Ryan Corbett and William Wallace McKenty in exchange for Khan Mohammad, an Afghan prisoner, The New York Times reported.
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.
Later, Afghan Foreign Ministry said in a post on X, “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 for the release of American nationals.”
Mohammad was sentenced to life imprisonment in the US and arrested in Nangarhar nearly two decades ago, the Taliban’s foreign ministry said in its statement. The US had said Mohammad was allegedly a senior aide to Al-Qaeda.
Family of Ryan Corbett thanks Trump, Biden administration
The family of US citizen Ryan Corbett, who was detained by the Taliban in 2022, confirmed he was released and expressed "overwhelming gratitude" that he was coming home.
"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 thanked both the Biden and Trump administrations, as well as Qatar, for Corbett's freedom, and 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.
(This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates)
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