ISLAMABAD (AP) Two Americans were released in a prisoner swap between the United States and the Taliban of Afghanistan in exchange for a Taliban leader who was sentenced to life in prison in California on accusations of terrorism and drug trafficking, officials announced Tuesday.
The agreement was made as returning President Donald Trump took over from Joe Biden, who led the tumultuous U.S. pullout from Afghanistan in 2021. The Taliban hailed the exchange as a step toward normalizing relations between the United States and Afghanistan, although that is probably still a long way off, given the majority of nations still do not acknowledge their authority, and two more Americans are thought to be detained.
Khan Mohammed, who was given two life sentences in 2008, was traded for two unnamed U.S. citizens, according to the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry in Kabul, which verified the transaction.
In a statement, the family of Ryan Corbett, an American who was detained by the Taliban, confirmed his release. While on a business trip in August 2022, Corbett, who had been in Afghanistan with his family when the U.S.-backed government fell in 2021, was arrested by the Taliban.
In this 2020 family portrait, Ryan Corbett is seen in Kabul, Afghanistan, holding rabbits alongside his children Caleb and daughter Miriam. According to reports, the Taliban have released him. (Anna Corbett, file, AP)AP
According to the family’s statement, “We are incredibly grateful and praise God for keeping Ryan alive and bringing him home after the most difficult and uncertain 894 days of our lives.” They expressed gratitude to Biden, Trump, and several government officials for their efforts to free him.
The Middle Eastern country of Qatar was also commended by Corbett’s family for their visits to Ryan as the US Protecting Power in Afghanistan and for playing a crucial part in Ryan’s release. Rich in energy Over the years, the United States and the Taliban have held talks in Qatar.
All those who were swapped went through Doha on their route to their home countries, according to a later statement from the Qatar Foreign Ministry, which admitted the nation’s involvement in the exchange.
According to the statement, Qatar expects that this agreement would open the door to subsequent understandings as a way to settle disagreements amicably.
Using unnamed U.S. authorities, CNN and The New York Times named the second American freed as William McKenty; however, no other information has surfaced on his identity or his activities in Afghanistan. Requests for reaction early Tuesday following Trump’s inauguration the previous day were not answered by Washington officials.
Mohammed, 55, was incarcerated in California following his conviction in 2008. Mohammed was classified as not being in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons early on Tuesday.
Mohammed had reached Afghanistan and was with his family, according to Taliban Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takal. In images made public by the Taliban, he was greeted with multicolored garlands in his native province of Nangarhar in the east of the nation.
Mohammed revealed to Taliban-run media that he had been imprisoned in Bagram and Washington, D.C.
It’s a pleasure to visit your homeland and see your relatives. “Coming to join your Muslim brothers is the greatest joy,” he remarked.
He was taken to the United States after being arrested on the Nangarhar battlefield. He was found guilty by a federal jury of aiding terrorism by obtaining heroin and opium that he knew were headed for the United States.
Mohammed was described by the Justice Department at the time as a violent Islamist and drug trafficker who aimed to use rockets to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. He was the first individual convicted under U.S. anti-terrorism legislation.
Mohammed was the largest heroin smuggler the United States had to deal with and a major source of funding for the Taliban, according to Ahmed Rashid, author of multiple books about Afghanistan and the Taliban.
Prior to his departure, Biden’s government had been attempting to negotiate the release of Corbett, George Glezmann, and Mahmood Habibi in return for Muhammad Rahim, one of the last detainees still held at Guantanamo Bay.
In December 2022, Glezmann, an Atlanta-based airplane mechanic, was captured by the Taliban’s intelligence services while passing through the nation. In 2022, Habibi, an Afghan-American entrepreneur who was a contractor for a telecom company in Kabul, also vanished. Habibi has been disputed by the Taliban.
Habibi’s family expressed their displeasure with the Biden team and welcomed the exchange, saying they were sure the Trump administration will try harder to rescue him.
In a statement released by the NGO Global Reach, Habibi’s brother Ahmed stated, “We know they have evidence my brother is alive and in Taliban hands and it could have been influential in encouraging the Taliban to admit they have him.”
He said that Biden officials declined to use the material. We are confident that Trump will employ every strategy at his disposal to bring Mahmood home because we know he is results-driven.