Afghan Taliban Government Announces Prisoner Swap With US
Date
1/21/2025 3:03:01 AM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
AFP
Kabul: The Taliban government said Tuesday they had released American citizens from prison in return for an Afghan fighter held in the United States.
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 Mohammad 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 Mohammad had been serving a life sentence in the state of California after being arrested "almost two decades ago" in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.
Asked by AFP, the foreign ministry declined to provide further details or the number of American prisoners.
US media named the Americans as William McKenty and Ryan Corbett, the latter in Taliban custody since 2022.
'New chapter'
After Trump's election win in November, the Taliban government had said it hoped for a "new chapter" in ties with the United States.
Taliban authorities have repeatedly said they want positive relations with every country since sweeping back to power in 2021.
The Taliban government on Tuesday called the exchange "a good example of resolving issues through dialogue, expressing special gratitude for the effective role of the brotherly country of Qatar in this regard".
"The Islamic Emirate views positively those actions of the United States that contribute to the normalisation and expansion of relations between the two countries," it added, using the Taliban authorities' name for their government.
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