Taliban announces release of 2 Americans in exchange for Khan Muhammad, held in US prison for two decades

The Taliban government of Afghanistan has announced the release of two American citizens in exchange for Khan Muhammad, a former Afghan detainee who had been serving a life sentence in California. The release, confirmed by the Taliban's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, marks a significant development in US-Taliban relations, following “long and fruitful negotiations” between the two parties.

While the Taliban did not reveal the names of the Americans involved, the family of one of the individuals, Ryan Corbett, confirmed his release. Corbett, who had been living in Afghanistan with his family during the fall of the US-backed Afghan government in 2021, was abducted by the Taliban in August 2022 while on a business trip.

His family expressed immense relief and gratitude in a statement, saying, “Our hearts are filled with overwhelming gratitude for sustaining his life and bringing him back home after what had been the most challenging and uncertain 894 days of our lives.”

The prisoner swap centers on Khan Muhammad, a former Afghan national who had been arrested in the eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan nearly two decades ago and was imprisoned in the United States. His release is expected to be a notable gesture of diplomacy in the ongoing efforts to normalize relations between Afghanistan and the United States.

The Afghan Foreign Ministry hailed the prisoner exchange as a positive example of resolving disputes through dialogue, emphasizing that such actions could contribute to the development of bilateral relations.

“The Islamic Emirate looks positively at the actions of the United States of America that help the normalization and development of relations between the two countries,” the statement said.