Two Americans held by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban regime have been exchanged to an Afghan imprisoned in the United States on drug trafficking and terrorism charges.
"An Afghan fighter Khan Mohammad imprisoned in America has been released in exchange for unidentified American citizens and returned to the country," the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement.
An agreement was reached following “extensive & productive negotiations between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the United States of America…, we are grateful to the fraternal State of Qatar for its effective role in this regard,” – noted ministry’s post on platform X. The deal – reportedly the culmination of two years of negotiations.
The ministry said Mohammad who had been serving a life sentence in the state of California after being arrested nearly two decades ago in Nangarhar & later sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment in 2008.
US media named the Americans as William McKenty and Ryan Corbett, the latter in Taliban custody since 2022.
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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