Islamabad, Pakistan — Afghanistan’s Taliban government announced Tuesday the release of two Americans in a prisoner exchange.
The Taliban’s foreign ministry in Kabul did not name the two American citizens but said they had been exchanged for Khan Muhammad, who was arrested in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province two decades ago and is serving a life sentence in a California prison.
The family of Ryan Corbett, one of the Americans on the exchange, said early Tuesday that their hearts were filled with “immense gratitude for helping his life and bringing him home after the most challenging and uncertain 894 days of our lives.”
Corbett, who was living in Afghanistan with his family at the time of the fall of the US-backed government in 2021, was kidnapped by the Taliban in August 2022 while on a business trip.
In a statement, the family thanked President Trump, former President Joe Biden, numerous officials of their administrations and Qatar for facilitating Corbett’s release and expressed hope that two other Americans detained in Afghanistan would also be freed.
There was no word on who the other freed Americans were — George Glezmann and Mahmoud Habibi — nor was there confirmation from the US that either had been released.
The Taliban ministry said the exchange was the result of “long and fruitful negotiations” with the US and a good example of solving problems through dialogue.
“The Islamic Emirate looks positively at the actions of the United States of America that help normalize and develop relations between the two countries,” the statement said.
last week, Biden spoke with the relatives of the three Americans the U.S. government was trying to bring them home from Afghanistan, but at the time there was no deal to bring them back, family members said.